China Open 2023: HS Prannoy, Lakshya Sen exit in opening round

None of the players in men's singles progressed to next round

India's top ranked shuttler and World Championships bronze medalist HS Prannoy alongside Lakshya Sen and Priyanshu Rajawat suffered opening round exits in men's singles department at China Open 2023. The doubles pair of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand along with MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila also lost in the opening rounds with none of the Indians registering a victory.

The current WR-6, HS Prannoy, started India's proceedings at China Open 2023 and began his campaign with a loss in the opening game to NG Tze Yong. However the 31-year-old made a good comeback to level scoreline with the match heading to the decider. In the final game, Prannoy went into the mid-game interval with a healthy lead and was five points points ahead (13-8), but Malaysia's No. 2 fought back to win five straight points reducing the deficit.

From (18-18), NG Tze Yong won three points to bag the match in his favour and progressed to the pre-quarterfinals. Soon after, Priyanshu Rajawat suffered straight games defeat to Indonesia's Shesar Hiren Rhustavito who came in as a last minute replacement for world champion Kunlavut Vitidsarn. Rhustavito completely dominated the opening game but the match caught pace in the 2nd game with Priyanshu saving three match points.

However, the Indonesian was too strong to beat for the upcoming Indian shuttler. His compatriot and Commonwealth Games gold medalist Lakshya Sen put in a tough fight in the opening two games against Aners Antonsen, but looked completely off colour in the decider giving away an easy victory to the opponent in three games.

Later in the day, both the doubles pair in the men's and women's category put up a decent fight but the opponents were strong enough to claim victories in straight games.

Asian Games champion Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty along with mixed doubles pair Rohan Kapoor and Sikki Reddy are the only Indians remaining in the tournament.

India's performance on day 1 of China Open 2023

Men's Singles (Round of 32)

HS Prannoy lost to NG Tze Yong (12-21, 21-13, 18-21)

Lakshya Sen lost to Anders Antonsen (21-23, 21-16, 21-9)

Priyanshu Rajawat lost to Shesar Hiren Rhustavito (13-21, 24-26)

Men's Doubles (Round of 32)

Dhruv Kapila/MR Arjun lost to Keiichiro Matsui/Yoshinori Takeuchi (21-23, 19-21)

Women's Doubles (Round of 32)

Treesa Jolly/Gayatri Gopichand lost to Chen Qing Chen/Jia Yi Fan (18-21, 11-21)