Malaysia Super 100: Lakshya Sen Falters, HS Prannoy Match Suspended Amid Rain Chaos

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India's Lakshya Sen and HS Prannoy encountered mixed fortunes at the Malaysia Super 100 badminton tournament on Tuesday. While Lakshya suffered a disappointing first-round exit, Prannoy's opener against Canada's Brian Yang was interrupted twice due to rain-induced roof leaks at the Axiata Arena.

Lakshya, fresh off a title win at the Syed Modi International and a bronze finish at the King Cup International, struggled to maintain his form against Chi Yu-jen of Chinese Taipei. The 22-year-old Indian lost 14-21, 7-21 in a match marred by unforced errors.

Yu-jen capitalized on Lakshya's mistakes, building momentum after a tight start in the first game. Despite staying level at 6-6 early on, Lakshya trailed 9-7 at the interval. His misjudgments and errors allowed Yu-jen to dominate, eventually taking the game 21-14.

The second game followed a similar pattern, with Lakshya falling behind 1-8 and ultimately succumbing 7-21. Meanwhile, Prannoy's match against Brian Yang saw an unusual turn of events. The 31-year-old Indian was leading 21-12, 6-3.

That's when rainwater seeped through the arena's roof, forcing play to stop. After a 165-minute delay, play resumed briefly at 4:15 PM but was suspended again as the leak persisted. At the time of suspension, Yang led 11-9 in the second game.

Prannoy took to social media, posting, "Played for 25 min, took a break for 165 min because of Rain and then again played for 5 more minutes. Shall continue playing the same match tomorrow." Court 2 matches were also affected by the leakage, while Court 1 remained operational.

Organizers were seen drying the courts with towels in bizarre scenes. Earlier in the day, India's women's doubles pair Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand advanced to the second round. They had a commanding 21-10, 21-10 victory over Thailand's Ornnicha Jongsathapornparn and Sukitta Suwachai.

The sixth-seeded Indian duo, buoyed by their Syed Modi International success, took control early, racing to a 17-8 lead in the first game. The second game saw a brief challenge at 8-8, but Treesa and Gayatri swiftly regained dominance to seal the match in 30 minutes.