Taipei Open: HS Prannoy, Unnati Hooda advance to 2nd round with straight wins

India enjoyed a productive opening day at the Taipei Open Super 300 on Wednesday as veteran HS Prannoy and teenage sensation Unnati Hooda led strong singles performances to advance to the second round.

Seventh seed Prannoy needed just 35 minutes to beat Japan’s Minoru Koga 21-11, 21-14 in the one-sided men’s singles opener. The Indian veteran will now take on Hong Kong’s Jason Gunawan, who eliminated compatriot Mithun Manjunath 21-18, 21-4.

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Kiran George and Tharun Mannepalli also sustained India’s challenge in the men’s singles draw. George comfortably overcame Wang Po-Wei of Chinese Taipei 21-10, 21-18, while Mannepalli caused one of the biggest upsets of the day by knocking out eighth seed Jeon Hyeok Jin of South Korea 21-12, 21-15. The two Indians will now face each other in the all-India second round.

Rounak Chauhan, who made it through the qualifying rounds, could not extend his run as Indonesia’s Richie Duta Richardo recorded a straight games victory 21-14, 21-16.

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In the women’s singles, third seed Unnati Hooda made a confident start, defeating China’s Pei Yu Wang of Taipei 21-12, 21-18. Her next opponent will be India’s Tanya Hemanth, who survived a hard-fought three-game match against local player Wen Chi Hsu to win 21-16, 14-21, 21-16.

India also celebrated wins through Devika Sihag, Tanvi Sharma and Anmol Kharb.

Eighth seed Devika bounced back after dropping her opening match to beat South Korea’s Ga Eun Park 14-21, 21-7, 21-15. Tanvi defeated compatriot Tasnim Mir in a close encounter 21-16, 22-20, while Anmol edged past Ishika Jaiswal of USA 21-15, 11-21, 21-19.

Devika will next face Indonesia’s Ni Kadek Dhinda Amartya Pratiwi, who defeated Indu Rakshitha Sree Santhosh Ramraj in three games. Tanvi is set to face Indonesia’s Thalita Ramadhani Wiryawan while Anmol faces a tough test against second seed Hsiang Ti Lin of Chinese Taipei. Lin reached the second round after getting past India’s Ashmit Chalih 16-21, 21-14, 21-15.

Shriyanshi Valishetty’s campaign ended after she lost 11-21, 12-21 to fourth seed Supanida Katethong of Thailand.

Later in the day, Isharani Baruah will face home favorite and top seed Pin-Chian Chiu in the other first round of the women’s singles.

– The end

Published on:

29 Jul 2026 20:34 IST