3 min readUpdated: Mar 12, 2026 12:25 AM IST
Having slipped outside the top 40 and not been in good form since the start of the 2026 season, Kiran George produced his best result in a while as he stunned former world champion Loh Kean Yew in straight games at the Swiss Open Super 300 in Basel on Wednesday. It was one of two upsets caused by Indian shuttlers in the opening round as the mixed doubles duo of Tanisha Crasto-Dhruv Kapila knocked out Danish fourth seeds Jesper Toft and Amalie Magelund.
George, ranked 42nd in the world, was involved in two tight games and prevailed 23-21, 21-19 in a 41-minute match. In the opening game, the unseeded Indian had saved two game points, while in the second, the Singaporean third seed nearly completed a superb comeback from 16-20 down before George sealed the contest with his fourth match point. He will next face Hong Kong’s Jason Gunawan, who knocked out former world no. 1 Kidambi Srikanth, in three games 21-15, 12-21, 4-21.
Tanisha-Dhruv also clinched an impressive 21-15, 21-14 win over the 13th-ranked pair, who are seven places ahead of the Indians. The duo will face China’s Gao Jia Xuan and Wu Meng Ying next.
Others struggle
It was, otherwise, a forgettable day for Indian shuttlers with several youngsters losing their matches. Continuing what’s been a lukewarm start to his season, Ayush Shetty lost 18-21, 19-21 to Canada’s Brian Yang, squandering the chance to at least force a decider from a 19-17 lead in Game 2. In women’s singles, teenager Tanvi Sharma lost against top seed Putri Kusuma Wardani of Indonesia 21-11, 21-10. Chinese Taipei’s Chiu Pin-Chian defeated another Indian youngster, Unnati Hooda, 21-14, 21-14 in the women’s singles.
India also suffered a setback after HS Prannoy, the 2023 World Championships bronze medallist, gave a walkover to Japan’s Koki Watanabe. Late on Tuesday, world No. 4 men’s doubles pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty advanced to the round of 16 with a 21-19, 21-19 win over Singapore’s Eng Keat Wesley Koh and Junsuke Kubo.
H Amsakarunan and M R Arjun also progressed with a 21-16, 24-22 win over Chinese Taipei’s Chen Zhi Ray and Lin Yu Chieh. In women’s doubles, Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand lost against Hu Ling Fang and Jheng Yu Chieh, retiring mid-match in the opening game when trailing 7-13, with the former unable to continue.
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