CHANGZHOU: Indian shuttles HS Prannoy and Lakshya Sen crashed out of the men’s singles event of the China Open 2023 in Changzhou, China on Tuesday.
Prannoy lost 12-21, 21-13, 18-21 against world No. 22 Ng Tze Yong of Malaysia in the first round of the BWF World Tour Super 1000.
Lakshya Sen suffered a 21-23-21-16-9-21 defeat at the hands of world No. 10 Anders Antonsen of Denmark in his opening clash. Prannoy was outplayed by Ng Tze Yong in the first game, and was unable to find his rhythm as the Malaysian easily won.
The 31-year-old Indian who earned a bronze medal at the World Championships last month, came back stronger and overpowered Ng Tze Yong in the second game to force a decider.
In the decider, Prannoy and Yong battled toe-to-toe early in the last game, but the Indian badminton player failed to maintain the effort and lost the 66-minute match.
Later in the day, Lakshya Sen was engaged in a thrilling duel with world championship bronze medalist Anders Antonsen in the first game.
The Indian fell short in the first game, but came back to win the second. Sen was unable to carry the momentum into the decider and bowed out following a 78-minute battle at the Changzhou Olympic Sports Centre’s Xincheng Gymnasium.
Earlier, India’s Priyanshu Rajawat lost 21-13, 26-24 to Indonesia’s Shesar Hiren Rhustavito.
India’s star men’s doubles pair of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Rohan Kapoor-N Sikki Reddy, in mixed doubles, will start their respective campaigns on Wednesday. (ANI)