Denmark Open: Sindhu, Lakshya Sen Suffer Early Exits as Srikanth, Tanvi Battle Through

India endured a mixed day at the Denmark Open Super 750 badminton tournament, with P V Sindhu and Lakshya Sen crashing out in the first round, while Kidambi Srikanth and Tanvi Sharma fought hard to secure second-round spots on Tuesday.

Two-time Olympic medallist Sindhu suffered a heartbreaking 21-13, 23-25, 19-21 defeat against Germany’s lower-ranked Yvonne Li in a gruelling women’s singles contest lasting one hour and five minutes at the SJF Bank Arena.

Sindhu made a strong start by taking the opening game but could not close out the match after Li fought back to level the contest. The German then edged a closely fought decider to seal the upset.

The former world champion had arrived in Denmark after a mixed run of results. She won the Japan Open Super 750 title in July before reaching the quarterfinals of last week’s Arctic Open, where she lost to Thailand’s Ratchanok Intanon in three games.

In men’s singles, Lakshya Sen went down 18-21, 21-13, 15-21 to third seed Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei in a contest that lasted one hour and three minutes. Sen recovered impressively to take the second game but was unable to maintain the momentum in the decider.

However, Kidambi Srikanth kept India’s campaign alive with a hard-fought 22-20, 21-19 victory over France’s Arnaud Merkle in 46 minutes. The former champion, who won the Denmark Open in 2017, will next face seventh seed Alex Lanier, also of France, in the pre-quarterfinals.

Teenager Tanvi Sharma also advanced after overcoming Japan’s Natsuki Nidaira 21-17, 16-21, 21-19 in a demanding encounter lasting one hour and 12 minutes.

Tanvi will next take on Li, the same opponent who ended Sindhu’s campaign, giving the Indian another opportunity to challenge the German in the women’s singles draw.