Thailand Open Result Updates: India’s ace shuttler PV Sindhu on Tuesday crashed out of the ongoing Thailand Open in the opening round after losing the hard-fought match against Denmark’s Mia Blichfeldt.
The star Indian shuttler had won the first game of the opening round comprehensively but Blichfeldt came back strongly and defeated Sindhu in back to back games to move into the second round. The 74-minute match in which Sindhu tasted defeat (21-16, 24-26, 13,21) witnessed long rallies between the duo in the second game.
Meanwhile, 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, Indian mixed doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Ashwini Ponnappa kicked off the Thailand Open with a scintillating win on Tuesday.
The duo staged an upset in the first round as they defeated Indonesia’s Hafiz Faizal and Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja. Satwiksairaj and Ashwini stunned the sixth-seeded opponents 21-11, 27-29, 21-16 in the opening round of the showpiece event.
Yonex Thailand Open: After Saina Nehwal Covid-19 positive result, husband P.Kashyap also withdraws; HS Prannoy also tests positive
Earlier, Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal and badminton player HS Prannoy tested positive for coronavirus. Both players, who were competing in the Thailand Open, were taken to the hospital for further tests.
“Saina Nehwal and HS Prannoy tested positive for COVID. They have been taken to the hospital. P Kashyap has also been taken to hospital but his report status is not confirmed yet,” sources told ANI.
A walkover was given to Kisona Selvaduray of Malaysia, who was to play her first-round match of the Thailand Open against Saina on Tuesday.
Also, Saina’s husband Parupalli Kashyap has been forced to withdraw from the event.
As Kashyap was in close proximity with Saina, he has also been taken to hospital for another round of testing. However, Kasshyap’s test report is awaited but the organisers are assuming that he, too, would possibly test positive.
Kashyap was scheduled to play Jason Anthony Ho-Shue of Canada later on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, no coaches, managers or other personnel are allowed to attend the matches of the Indian players
Notably, last week, Saina had raised concerns over the fitness of the athletes after physios and trainers were restricted from meeting the badminton players during the entirety of their Thailand tour.
Saina had asked Badminton World Federation (BWF) to sort the mess as it was impacting the performance of the players on the court.