Canada Open 2026: Aakarshi Kashyap, Tanya Hemanth exit as Indian challenge ends

Ask Hemanth (Screengrab) India’s 2026 Canada Open campaign ended after Aakarshi Kashyap and Tanya Hemanth suffered defeats in the second round of the women’s singles at the BWF Super 300 in Markham, Ontario.Aakarshi, the world No. 71, battled hard against fourth seed and world No. 33 Beiwen Zhang of the United States before losing 20-22, 21-17, 21-17 in a hard-fought match lasting one hour and seven minutes.The Indian shuttler got off to a flying start, leading 10-6 in the opening game, but Zhang fought back to grab the first game. Aakarshi continued to fight throughout the match, pushing the decision to 17-17 before the American reeled off four straight points to seal the win. The defeat was Aakarshi’s third loss to Zhang in as many meetings.India’s hopes were further dented when world No. 56 Tanya Hemanth suffered a straight-match defeat against Japan’s No. 3 team and world No. 1 Riko Gunji.Gunji dominated the contest from start to finish, securing a 21-11, 21-11 victory in just 31 minutes. It was Tanya’s second straight defeat against the Japanese player after she also lost to her in the opening round of last week’s US Open.Aakarshi and Tanya were India’s last remaining players in the tournament after the rest of the contingent had already been eliminated.Former world no. 1 Kidambi Srikanth was injured during the match against Malaysia’s Lee Zii Jia, while Devika Sihag, Rakshitha Ramraj, Anmol Kharb, Shriyanshi Valishetty, Saneeth Dayanand and Sankar Subramanian departed in the early rounds.India’s doubles challenge also ended on the opening day after Achudaditya Rao Doddavarapu and Arjun Reddy Pochana were eliminated. The Indian shuttlers will next compete in the Japan Open 750 starting on July 14.