Indonesia Masters 2024: Prannoy, Srikanth Crash Out In Opener; Sen, Rajawat, George Keep Indian Challenge Alive

Senior Indian shuttlers HS Prannoy and Kidambi Srikanth crashed out of the Indonesia Masters 2024 following defeats in their respective men's singles opener on Wednesday (January 24) at the Istora Gelora Bung Karno in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Seventh seed Prannoy fought back from a game down to lose to Singapore's Loh Kean Yew by a scoreline of 18-21, 21-19, 10-21 in an hour on court 2. The 31-year-old Indian had lost in the first round at the Malaysia Open Super 1000 tournament as well.

Former world number 1 Srikanth, who is racing against time to qualify for Paris, dropped a game to lose 21-19, 14-21, 11-21 to Malaysia's Lee Zii Jia in 54 minutes also on court 2. This was his second successive first-round loss.

However, Lakshya Sen, Kiran George and Priyanshu Rajawat kept the Indian challenge alive at the Indonesia Masters 2024 with contrasting wins in their respective men's singles opening round matches on Wednesday (January 24).

Sen, who is looking to qualify for the Paris Olympics,, registered a straight game victory over China's Weng Hong Yang by a scoreline of 24-22, 21-15 in 51 minutes on Court 1 to seal the second round spot.

The 22-year-old Sen will next face Denmark's seventh seed Anders Antonsen, who defeated Indonesia's Chico Aura Dwi Wardoyo, in the pre-quarterfinal on Thursday (January 25).

Kiran George, on the other hand, fought back from a game down to oust France's Toma Junior Popov by a scoreline of 18-21, 21-16, 21-19 in the first round match that lasted an hour and 12 minutes on court 3.

The 23-year-old, who entered the main draw by winning the qualifiers on Tuesday (January 23), will next face Lu Guang Zu of China in the second round on Thursday (January 24).

Later in the day, Rajawat registered a straight games victory over Rasmus Gemke of Denmark by a scoreline of 21-18, 21-19 in 45 minutes on Court 3. He will next face Brian Yang of Canada in the second round.

No doubles team from India is participating in the event as Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, who reached their second successive final on BWF tour in 2024, gave Indonesia Masters 2024 a miss.