The first Superseries Premier event post the 2016 Rio Olympics did not start well for Indian shuttlers. All Indians in action at the Denmark Open on Tuesday tasted defeat.
Men’s singles player Parupalli Kashyap was the first one to depart from the Odense tournament after bowing out 13-21, 21-8, 20-22 in the first round of qualifying to the World No. 47 Raul Must in 59 minutes.
Also read: Denmark Open: All eyes on PV Sindhu as she returns to the circuit
He was soon joined on the sidelines by the Indian mixed doubles pair of Pranaav Jerry Chopra and N Sikki Reddy, who lost 15-21, 14-21 to the fifth seeds Joachim Fischer Nielsen and Christinna Pedersen in 37 minutes.
Kashyap had lost to Must last week too
The Commonwealth Games gold medallist Kashyap is currently making his comeback to the circuit after a knee injury kept him out for five months and robbed him of a chance to participate in the Rio Olympics. The hiatus has seen his ranking suffer a slide and he is currently placed at the 92nd spot.
For Kashyap, it was a tough draw at the Denmark Open. He had lost to the Estonian shuttler just last week in the third round of the Dutch Open. It was a straight-games loss then and even though this time, he did take a game off Must, he fell short in the end.
Sikki Reddy and Pranaav Jerry Chopra too had to deal with a difficult draw. The Indians had been sizzling in the Grand Prix tournaments of late and had triumphed at the Brazil Grand Prix and the Russian Open Grand Prix.
But facing the reigning European champions in their own home tournament was a different challenge altogether. Nielsen and Pedersen imposed themselves early on in the first game and grabbed it 21-15.
The second game too looked to be totally heading their way as they raced to 19-11 from 9-6. The Indians made a last-ditch effort and took three points in a row but the Danes soon slammed shut the match.
PV Sindhu to begin her campaign on Wednesday
The main draw matches in singles will begin on Wednesday and the doubles action continues as well. Rio Olympic silver medallist PV Sindhu will be spearheading the women’s singles challenge while Ajay Jayaram will lead a total of three Indians in the men’s singles main draw. In men’s doubles, Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy will be in action.
