Swiss Open 2025: Sankar Subramanian stuns World No. 2 Antonsen to reach quarters

World No. 64 Sankar Subramanian Muthusamy secured the biggest victory of his senior career, defeating World No. 2 Anders Antonsen in the pre-quarterfinals of the Swiss Open, a Super 300 tournament in Basel, on Thursday, 20 March.

The 21-year-old fought back from behind to win in three games-18-21, 21-12, 21-5- in a 66-minute battle. Sankar, a former junior World No. 1, led 16-14 in the opening game but allowed Antonsen, who is more accustomed to the conditions in Basel, to mount a comeback and take the first game. However, Sankar regrouped in the second, refusing to let Antonsen find his rhythm. Relying on his solid defence, the youngster frustrated his higher-ranked opponent, who struggled with unforced errors. Sankar led 18-9 and comfortably closed out the game.

A silver medallist at the 2022 World Junior Championships, Sankar entered the Swiss Open as a qualifier and has now reached the quarterfinals of a Super 300 tournament for the second time this year. In January, he made the last eight at the Thailand Masters.

Sankar will face World No. 31 Christo Popov of France in the quarterfinals on Friday.

SRIKANTH, PRIYANSHU OUSTED
Meanwhile, there was disappointment for India’s senior shuttlers, as Kidambi Srikanth and Priyanshu Rajawat both exited in the second round.

Kidambi, who had advanced past HS Prannoy in the opening round, fell tamely to China’s World No. 6 Li Shi Feng, losing 15-21, 11-21 in under 40 minutes. France’s Toma Popov defeated Rajawat 21-15, 21-17 in a 47-minute contest. Rajawat had earlier beaten Switzerland’s Tobias Kuenzi in straight games.

However, there was good news in the women’s doubles, as Gayatri Gopichand and Treesa Jolly continued their strong run, reaching the quarterfinals after a straight-games victory over Germany’s Amelie Lehmann and Selin Hbsch.