File image of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty.© AFP
World No. 1 Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty crashed out of the Singapore Open after suffering a shock defeat against Denmark’s world number 34 Daniel Lundgaard and Mads Vestergaard in the opening round, here Tuesday. One of the favourites to win a gold medal at Paris Olympics, Satwik and Chirag, who had claimed the Thailand Open super 500 early this month, lost 20-22 18-21 to Daniel and Mads in a 47-minute clash of the Super 750 badminton tournament. It turned out to be a dismal day for India as Aakarshu Kashyap and Priyanshu Rajawat also failed to cross the opening hurdle in singles competition.
While world no. 41 Kashyap lost 7-21 15-21 to Thailand’s Pornpicha Choeikeewong, ranked 42nd, Rajawat fought hard before going down 21-23 19-21 to Hong Kong’s Lee Cheuk Yiu.
Women’s doubles pair of Rutuparna Panda and Swetaparna Panda also played their heart out before losing 12-21 21-12 13-21 to Chinese Taipei’s Chang Ching Hui and Yang Ching Tun.
Ashith Surya and Amrutha Pramuthesh also lost 8-21 17-21 to Hong Kong’s Lee CHun Hei Reginald and Ng Tsz Yau in mixed doubles.
Top Indian shuttlers such as PV Sindhu, Lakshya Sen and HS Prannoy will begin their campaign on Wednesday.
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