Singapore Open: Kidambi Srikanth Wins; PV Sindhu, HS Prannoy Out

Kidambi Srikanth made a winning start but PV Sindhu and HS Prannoy were ousted from the Singapore Open Super 750 tournament after suffering contrasting losses in the opening round on Tuesday.

Srikanth, a 2021 world championships silver medallist, beat Thailand’s Kantaphon Wangcharoen 21-15 21-19 in the opening round of men’s singles competition.

The former world number one will meet either Japan’s Kenta Nishimoto or Chinese Taipei’s Chia Hao Lee next.

Up against world number 1 Akane Yamaguchi of Japan, defending champion Sindhu fought hard before going down 21-18 19-21 17-21 in a little over an hour. Sindhu had also made a first-round exit from Thailand Open last week.

Prannoy, who came into the tournament after claiming his maiden BWF title at Malaysia Masters, couldn’t match the young Kodai Naraoka, losing 15-21 19-21 to the third seeded Japanese in 56 minutes.

Doubles pair of MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila, however, made a good start after claiming a 21-16 21-15 win over France’s Lucas Corvee and Ronan Labar in their opening match.

More to follow…