Priyanshu Rajawat was cramping up. HS Prannoy was at ‘60-70%’ and yet to completely recover from his health issues. And it just wasn’t Lakshya Sen’s day at the $950,000 India Open badminton here.
The defeats – in the span of 90 minutes on Wednesday evening – of India’s three highest ranked men’s singles players means the hosts will barely have any representation in the category at the Super 750 tournament going into the second round.
Kiran George, who was promoted from the reserve list after Indonesian eighth seed Anthony Sinisuka Ginting pulled out, will be the only Indian men’s singles player taking the court on Thursday in a category considered the country’s strongest. And Kiran won’t have it easy either as he will take on rising French shuttler Alex Lanier, who knocked out reigning world champion Kunlavut Vitidsarn in the opener on Tuesday.
It wasn’t Lakshya’s day at the Indira Gandhi Sports Complex – he lost 15-21, 10-21 to Chinese Taipei’s Lin Chun-Yi – but India’s highest ranked shuttler has barely had any ‘my day’ since the Olympics. The world No.12 came close to medalling in Paris, but two meltdowns saw him miss out on the podium.
But the Commonwealth Games champion, who is India’s best prospect looking at the future, has failed to deliver since then. In seven tournaments, the 23-year-old has suffered five first round exits. He won the Syed Modi India International in Lucknow last month to end a 28-month drought, but the Super 300 event barely had any top shuttler and Lakshya was the top seed.
“It’s just a bad day because I prepared really well and I played a few good matches before that. Yes, Malaysia (Open last week) didn’t go well. Even today. It’s time to now focus and really prepare for the next matches. A few changes here and there in training,” said Lakshya, who will next play in the Indonesia Masters in Jakarta next week.
Prannoy has been unlucky as ever. While 2023 proved the best season of his career, winning bronze medals at the World Championships and Asian Games apart from clinching the Malaysia Masters, his career graph saw a huge dip last year after the 32-year-old suffered multiple health issues.
The player from Kerala suffered from constant nausea in early 2024 which started with a malfunctioning muscle lining the oesophagus, causing food to move back up and forcing him to vomit. The condition was similar to the acid reflux Prannoy had for years before he finally figured out the solution. His medical issues also saw him lose four kilograms and had a psychological impact on him.
Then, just when he thought he was recovering and making a comeback, Prannoy was diagnosed with Chikungunya just before the Olympics, which had a lasting effect on him.
The Olympian took a four-month break after losing to Lakshya in the Round of 16 at Paris and returned to the circuit at the Malaysia Open last week, where he lost in the second round. On Wednesday, Prannoy fought hard to take a game off Chinese Taipei’s Su Li Yang but didn’t have the energy to push his opponent, going down 21-16, 18-21, 12-21.
“Post Chikungunya, it was tough to return to normal work. It took 2-3 months to just get back on court, which shows how bad the after effects were. It’s a tough spot to be in as an athlete with many uncertainties regarding physical health,” Prannoy said after the loss.
“But a lot has been addressed and I am now around 60-70% fit. It is important for me to just keep playing on the circuit. Malaysia Open was a decent tournament for me. But there were some ankle niggles here. It was looking tough today.”
Hailed as the next big thing in Indian badminton, Priyanshu too has largely been inconsistent since winning the Orleans Masters in France two years back. Though he reached the semis at the Syed Modi India International and Canada Open last year, he suffered several first round exits. It was no different on Wednesday as he lost 16-21, 22-20, 13-21 to Japan’s Kodai Naroaka.