Singapore Open | Priyanshu and Dhruv/Arjun lose second round matches
Priyanshu Rajawat, a young singles player for India, and M.R. Arjun and Dhruv Kapila, a doubles team, both lost in the second round of the Singapore Open badminton competition. Rajawat, who pulled off an upset by beating World No. 15 Kanta Tsuneyama in the first round, lost to Kodai Naraoka.
In a 47-minute match on the BWF World Tour Super 750, the 21-year-old Indian fell to Naraoka 17-21, 16-21. At Singapore Indoor Stadium, Ben Lane and Sean Vendy of England defeated Arjun and Dhruv's doubles team 15-21, 19-21.
As a result, Kidambi Srikanth, a former World No. 1, is the only Indian participant left in the competition. Later on Thursday, Srikanth will compete against Chinese Taipei's Chia Hao Lee after defeating Thailand's Kantaphon Wangcharoen in the first round.
The best singles players from India—two-time Olympian P.V. Sindhu, Malaysia Masters champion H.S. Prannoy, past World Championship bronze medalist Lakshya Sen, and London Olympics bronze medalist Saina Nehwal—had previously lost in the first round.
The top doubles teams, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, who are now ranked 11th in the world, were eliminated on Wednesday, while the bronze medalists in the Commonwealth women's doubles, Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand, were eliminated in the first round.
Fifth-seeded Satwik and Chirag lost to Akira Koga and Taichi Saito of Japan in three games, 18-21, 21-14, and 18-21, in little over an hour. In a 66-minute match, Treesa and Gayatri gave it their all but fell short against Hong Kong's Ting Yeung Nga and Lam Yeung Pui, losing 14-21, 21-18, and 19-21.