India’s top shuttler HS Prannoy started his 2024 campaign in the worst possible way, as he was ousted in the first round itself, by Denmark’s Ander Antonsen 14-21, 11-21. The WR-8 Prannoy is the best-placed Indian in the BWF rankings, but failed to produce an inspiring performance in the Paris 2024 Olympics qualification year.
In the first game, the Indian was trailing 1-9, which only showed, how out of sorts he was. Come the second, initially, Prannoy showed some fight when the scores were level at 7-7, but from there on it just went downhill for him.
On the other hand, the world No. 2 men’s doubles team of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty won their first round match against Indonesia’s MS Fikri & B Maulana 21-18, 21-19.
Later in the day, Lakshya Sen is scheduled to open his campaign against Weng HY of China. Prior to this, on Tuesday, Kidambi Srikanth had started with a solid three-game win against WR-5 Jonathan Christie.
