Singapore Open: Sindhu, Prannoy fall in first round

Singapore: Kidambi Srikanth made a winning start, but P V Sindhu and H S Prannoy were ousted from the Singapore Open Super 750 tournament after suffering contrasting losses in the opening round here 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.

Orleans Masters winner Priyanshu Rajawat also notched up a 21-12, 21-15 win over Japan's Kanta Tsuneyama to make it to the second round. 

Up against world No. 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 World Tour title at Malaysia Masters, couldn't match the young Kodai Naraoka, losing 15-21, 19-21 to the third-seeded Japanese in 56 minutes.

London Olympics bronze medallist Saina Nehwal lost 13-21, 15-21 to former world champion Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand, while Aakarshi Kashyap went down to another Thai Supanida Katethong 21-17, 21-9.

Doubles pair of M R 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.