India’s campaign at the Canada Open 2026 came to an end on Thursday after Aakarshi Kashyap and Tanya Hemanth bowed out in the second round of the women’s singles competition at the Markham Pan Am Centre in Ontario.
Aakarshi, ranked 71st in the world, came close to upsetting fourth seed Beiwen Zhang of the United States before going down 20-22, 21-17, 21-17 in a contest that lasted one hour and seven minutes.
The Indian started strongly, opening up a four-point lead midway through the first game. Although Zhang fought back to level the scores, Aakarshi stayed in contention before narrowly missing out on the opener.
Aakarshi pushes fourth seed before falling
The American took control of the second game with a commanding lead, but Aakarshi mounted a late comeback that ultimately fell short. The deciding game remained evenly poised until 17-all, when Zhang won the final four points in succession to seal the match. The defeat also extended Aakarshi’s losing record against Zhang to 0-3.
Earlier in the day, Tanya Hemanth’s run ended with a 21-11, 21-11 defeat to Japan’s third seed Riko Gunji in just 31 minutes. It marked Tanya’s second loss to Gunji in as many weeks after the Japanese shuttler also eliminated her in the opening round of the US Open.
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 retired injured during his second-round clash against Malaysia’s Lee Zii Jia, while Devika Sihag, Rakshitha Ramraj, Anmol Kharb, Shriyanshi Valishetty, Saneeth Dayanand and Sankar Subramanian were all eliminated in the opening rounds. India’s only doubles pair, Achutaditya Rao Doddavarapu and Arjun Reddy Pochana, also suffered an early exit.
Indian shuttlers will next compete at the Japan Open Super 750, beginning on July 14.
Brief results
Women’s Singles (Round of 16): Aakarshi Kashyap lost to fourth seed Beiwen Zhang (USA) 20-22, 21-17, 21-17.
Women’s Singles (Round of 16): Tanya Hemanth lost to third seed Riko Gunji (Japan) 21-11, 21-11.
