Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty crashed out of the Singapore Open after suffering a shock first round defeat against Denmark’s Daniel Lundgaard and Mads Vestergaard on Tuesday.
One of the favourites to win a gold medal at the Paris Olympics, Satwik and Chirag, who had claimed the Thailand Open super 500 earlier this month, lost 20-22, 18-21 to the World No 34 pairing in a 47-minute clash.
It turned out to be a dismal day for India as Aakarshu Kashyap and Priyanshu Rajawat also failed to cross the opening hurdle in singles event.
While world no. 41 Kashyap lost 7-21, 15-21 to Thailand’s Pornpicha Choeikeewong, ranked 42nd, Rajawat fought hard before going down 21-23, 19-21 to Hong Kong’s Lee Cheuk Yiu.
Women’s pairing of Rutuparna Panda and Swetaparna Panda also played their hearts out before losing 12-21, 21-12, 13-21 to Chinese Taipei’s Chang Ching Hui and Yang Ching Tun.
Ashith Surya and Amrutha Pramuthesh also lost 8-21, 17-21 to Hong Kong’s Lee CHun Hei Reginald and Ng Tsz Yau in mixed doubles.
PV Sindhu, Lakshya Sen and HS Prannoy will begin their campaign on Wednesday.
