Published: March 13, 2026 at 9:41 pm
Tharun Mannepalli kept the Indian flag flying in the men’s singles as he reached the quarterfinals of the Swiss Open 2026 badminton tournament in Basel on Thursday.
The Telangana shuttler, who trains at the Pullela Gopichand Academy in Hyderabad, pulled off a 21-14, 22-20 win over Justin Hoh of Malaysia in 43 minutes.
Earlier, Tharun had advanced to the second round after his opponent, Kenta Nishimoto of Japan, retired in the decider. Tharun, who is ranked 43rd in the world, was leading 16-21, 21-16, 7-2 when the fifth-seeded Nishimoto retired from the round of 32 match due to a shoulder issue.
Kiran George went down in the second round of the men’s singles event. Competing at the St Jakobshalle arena, Kiran George, 42nd in the badminton rankings, lost to world No. 44 Jason Gunawan of Hong Kong China 21-18, 16-21, 21-16 in one hour and 10 minutes.
The 26-year-old Indian made a strong start to his round of 16 match and raced to a 5-0 lead. Jason, however, mounted a comeback to cut the deficit to 11-9 at the break and after drawing level at 17-17, won four of the next five points to take the game.
Kiran George went down in the second round of the men’s singles event. He lost to world No. 44 Jason Gunawan of Hong Kong China 21-18, 16-21, 21-16 in one hour and 10 minutes
The second game began with both players looking to edge ahead in the early exchanges. Kiran George, however, dominated the middle phase, reeling off six consecutive points to surge from 7-6 to 13-6. He then maintained control to force the match into a decider.
The final game proved to be a neck-and-neck affair, with the scores locked at 11-all. Jason, however, won the next five points to take a decisive lead and maintained his momentum to move into the next round of the BWF Super 300 tournament.
Kiran George had stunned former world champion Loh Kean Yew of Singapore in the first round on Wednesday.
Satwik-Chirag win a marathon to enter quarters
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty, meanwhile, held their nerves through a marathon three-game thriller to qualify for the men’s doubles quarterfinals.
Asian Games men’s doubles champions Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, the top seeds, defeated Japan’s unseeded duo of Hiroki Okamura and Kyohei Yamashita 21-15, 15-21, 28-26 in a contest that lasted one hour and 14 minutes.
After the first two games proved to be one-sided affairs, the decider turned into a fierce battle with both pairs fighting for every point.
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty edged ahead early to lead 9-6. The Japanese pair, however, fought back strongly and moved into a 13-11 lead after the change of ends.
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, the top seeds, defeated Japan’s unseeded duo of Hiroki Okamura and Kyohei Yamashita 21-15, 15-21, 28-26 in a contest that lasted one hour and 14 minutes
From there, the contest remained poised, with neither side able to establish a decisive advantage. The Indian duo earned their first match point at 20-19 but were repeatedly denied by a resilient Japanese pair, who saved seven match points in a tense finish.
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty finally sealed victory on their eighth opportunity to progress to the next round, where they will face Christian Faust Kjaer and Rasmus Kjaer of Denmark.
Indian mixed doubles badminton pair of Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto lost 21-14, 22-20 against Gao Jiaxuan and Wu Mengying of People’s Republic of China.
MR Arjun and Hariharan Amsakarunan went down 21-17, 21-11 against Lin Bing-wei and Chen Cheng Kuan of Chinese Taipei.
