PV Sindhu, Sai Praneeth crash out of Thailand Open

Sindhu, seeded sixth, returned to action with a 21-16 24-26 13-21 defeat to world no 18 Blichfeldt in a 74-minute battle

Bangkok: World champion P V Sindhu suffered a shock defeat on her return to international badminton, losing in three games to Denmark’s Mia Blichfeldt in the opening round of YONEX Thailand Open Super 1000 event here on Tuesday.

Months after the Covid-19 pandemic disrupted the international calendar, Sindhu, seeded sixth, returned to action with a 21-16 24-26 13-21 defeat to world no 18 Blichfeldt in a 74-minute battle.

The loss ended India’s campaign in women’s singles as the other contender Saina Nehwal was forced out after testing positive for Covid-19 on the eve of the tournament.

In men’s singles, world No. 13 B Sai Praneeth too suffered a straight game loss to Thailand’s Kantaphon Wangcharoen on his return to competition.

Frontrunner to represent India at the Olympics, Praneeth went down 16-21 10-21 to the world No. 15 Wangcharoen for only his second loss to the Thailand player.

Earlier in the day, the Indian mixed doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Ashwini Ponnappa claimed a 21-11, 27-29, 21-16 win over the Indonesian pair of Hafiz Faizal and Gloria Widjaja.

No coaches, managers or other personnel are allowed to attend the matches of the Indian players after Saina and HS Prannoy tested positive for Covid-19 on Tuesday.