Thamonwan Nithiittikrai's reactions just a few minutes apart were awfully similar as she fell down on the court at the end of a rally but Unnati Hooda ended up having the last laugh. First at 19-20, with Unnati facing a match point, Nithiittikrai hit a forehand clear that she thought fell inside the backline but as Unnati let the shuttle drop, the Thai player couldn't see the umpire's outstretched hands signalling it was wide. Unnati, having survived two match points, squandered one of her own before eventually prevailing 21-14, 18-21, 23-21 in exactly one hour. This time again Nithiittikrai fell on her knees, but in disappointment at having come close to a win only to see the Indian teenager clinch a thriller in the opening round of the Thailand Open Super 500 in Bangkok on Wednesday. The 17-year-old Unnati, fresh from her semifinal run last week at the Taipei Open Super 300, led a trio of Indian women's singles players into the round of 16 in Thailand. She was joined by Aakarshi Kashyap and Malvika Bansod in registering hard-fought first-round wins. But there was disappointment in men's singles once again, as Lakshya Sen and Priyanshu Rajawat continued to struggle for consistency this season, going down in three games. Lakshya showed a brief glimpse of the form that took him to the Paris Olympics semifinal last year during his win against Jonatan Christie at the All England in March. But apart from that, it has been a wretched season for the 23-year-old from Almora. It was his fourth first-round exit of the season (with a second-round exit in another event to add) as he went down against Ireland's Nhat Nguyen, world No. 34, in a three-game battle, losing 18-21, 21-9, 17-21 in 80 minutes. There was a late fightback in Game 1, there was complete control in Game 2, but in the end, the world No. 18 lost steam once again in the decider as his form continues to dip internationally. And Priyanshu, seen as the future of men's singles in India along with Lakshya, also has struggled to stitch together a decent set of results this year. Up against the highly-rated Indonesian world No 3` Alwi Farhan, Priyanshu – who has slid down to World No 33 now – lost 16-21, 21-17, 13-21 in 70 minutes. In what has been an underwhelming year so far for Indian badminton anyway, the results in men's singles are becoming increasingly concerning. Ayush Shetty has been a bright spot, but after his run to the semifinals last week in Chinese Taipei, the 20-year-old had fallen at the qualifying hurdle this week in Bangkok on Tuesday. There was good news in women's doubles as world No. 10 pair of Tressa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand made a winning comeback from an injury-enforced break. Currently the only Indians across the five disciplines ranked in the world's top 10, the duo won 21-15, 21-13 win over Malaysia's Ong Xin Yee and Carmen Ting. The third seeds next take on Japan's Rui Hirokami and Sayaka Hobara. In women's singles, it was the end of the road for Rakshitha Sree Santhosh Ramraj, who lost her women's singles opener 18-21 7-21 to eighth seed Yeo Jia Min of Singapore. Earlier in the day, world No 49 Aakarshi registered a thrilling 21-16, 20-22, 22-20 win against Japan's world No 37 Kaoru Sugiyama. All three Indians in women's singles face daunting tasks against home stars in the round of 16. Unnati will take on top seed and title favourite Pornpawee Chochuwong, while Aakarshi meets fourth-seed Supanida Katethong. India No 2 Malvika goes up against former world champion Ratchanok Intanon, who got the better of Anupama Upadhyaya in the opening round. Late in the night, Tharun Mannepalli ensured there will be at least one representative from India in men's singles in the second round. The 23-year-old staved off a late fightback from Malaysia's Justin Hoh to win 21-19, 21-16 in 48 minutes. Tharun had come through the qualifying rounds, where he had beaten Kuo Kuan Lin in three games before seeing off Srikanth Kidambi in straight games. Tharun will next take on world No 3 Anders Antonsen of Denmark.
