NEW DELHI: In a stunning upset, the top-ranked men's doubles pair of
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy
and
Chirag Shetty
was eliminated from the
Singapore Open
in the first round on Tuesday.
The Indian duo, who is among the top contenders for a gold medal at the upcoming Paris Olympics, suffered a shock defeat against Denmark's Daniel Lundgaard and Mads Vestergaard, ranked 34th in the world.
The Danish pair secured a straight-set win with scores of 22-20 and 21-18 in a closely contested match that lasted 47 minutes.
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 competition.
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 doubles pair of Rutuparna Panda and Swetaparna Panda also played their heart 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.
Top Indian shuttlers such as
PV Sindhu
, Lakshya Sen and HS Prannoy will begin their campaign on Wednesday.
(With inputs from PTI)
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