Indonesia masters: India’s badminton players continued to have a disappointing performance on the international stage, with Lakshya Sen and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty’s star men doubles pair on Thursday lost in the second round of Indonesia Masters Super 500 Badminton Tournament here.
India’s 10th-ranked player target continued to struggle on the international circuit, defeating Japan’s Kenta Nishimoto 16-21 21-12 21-23 in 50 minutes. This was not enough, Asian Games champions Satwik and Chirag also dropped out of the tournament. He had to face defeat 20–22 21-23 from the pair of Thailand’s Kitinupong Kedren and Dechapol Puranukroh.
Earlier, the mixed doubles pair of Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Krasto also had to face defeat in the second round. Despite the lead to the Indian pair, Malaysia’s Pang Ron Hu and Suyin Cheng lost 21-18 15-21 19-21.
The female doubles pair of veteran Ashwini Ponnappa and Krasto were also defeated by Malaysia’s Pei Ki Go and Mei Jing Tioh pair 21-13 22–24 18-21 in a challenging match that lasted three games of the second round.
Asian Games silver medalist and Commonwealth Games gold medalist Sen made a bad start in the match and lost the first game. He made a good comeback by winning the second game but despite presenting a tough challenge in the third and decisive game, he suffered defeat. On Wednesday, two -time Olympic medalist PV Sindhu and emerging male singles player Priyanshu Rajawat were out in the first round.
