India's campaign at the BWF Super 300 Canada Open 2026 concluded on July 3 after Aakarshi Kashyap and Tanya Hemanth suffered second-round defeats in the women's singles event in Markham, Ontario, as reported by Olympics.com.
Aakarshi Kashyap loses a hard-fought battle
World No. 71 Aakarshi Kashyap put up a spirited fight against fourth seed and world No. 33 Beiwen Zhang of the United States before losing 20-22, 21-17, 21-17 in a contest that lasted one hour and seven minutes. Aakarshi started strongly, leading 10-6 in the first game, but Zhang fought back to edge it. The Indian responded well but could not capitalise on key moments. In the second game, Zhang surged ahead, though Aakarshi mounted a late comeback. The decider was tied at 17-17 before Zhang won four straight points to seal the match. This defeat marked Aakarshi's third loss to Zhang in as many meetings, according to Olympics.com.
Tanya Hemanth outclassed by Riko Gunji
In the other women's singles second-round match, world No. 56 Tanya Hemanth was outclassed by Japan's third seed and world No. 21 Riko Gunji, who registered a convincing 21-11, 21-11 victory in just 31 minutes. The result also marked Tanya's second successive defeat to Gunji after the Japanese shuttler had eliminated her in the opening round of last week's US Open.
India's early exits in other events
Aakarshi and Tanya were India's last remaining representatives in the tournament after the rest of the contingent exited earlier. Former world No. 1 Kidambi Srikanth was forced to retire hurt during his match against Malaysia's Olympic medallist Lee Zii Jia. Devika Sihag, Rakshitha Ramraj, Anmol Kharb, Shriyanshi Valishetty, Saneeth Dayanand and Sankar Subramanian were all eliminated in the early rounds. India's challenge in the doubles competition also ended on the opening day after Achutaditya Rao Doddavarapu and Arjun Reddy Pochana were knocked out.
Next stop: Japan Open
The Indian shuttlers will next be seen in action at the Japan Open 750, scheduled to begin on July 14.
