Kidambi Srikanth was eliminated from the Singapore Open 2023 tournament in the round of 16 following a loss to Chia Hao Lee from Chinese Taipei on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Priyanshu Rajawat also suffered a defeat to Japan's Kodai Naraoka in straight games which ended India's challenge in the BWF Super 750 event.
Despite a competitive start, Srikanth, ranked 23rd in the world, was defeated by Lee, ranked 42nd, with a score of 21-15, 21-19 after a 49-minute contest at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. The former world no.1 initially showed promise in the second game, taking a 16-10 lead, but Lee mounted a comeback and ultimately secured the victory, thus eliminating the Indian player from the tournament.
MORE: PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal suffer first round exits
On the other hand, Rajawat was no match for third seed Naraoka, who had previously eliminated HS Prannoy in the first round, and lost 21-17, 21-16.
India's men's doubles pair, MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila, were also knocked out in the round of 16 after a 21-15, 21-19 loss to Great Britain's Ben Lane and Sean Vendy.
The defeats of Srikanth, Rajawat, and Arjun-Kapila marked the end of India's representation in the Singapore Open 2023.
Prior to these results, India's women's singles players PV Sindhu, Saina Nehwal, and Lakshya Sen had already been eliminated in the first round.
Moreover, India's top men's doubles pair, Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, were also eliminated in the first round by Japan's Akira Koga and Taichi Saito.
MORE: Latest sports betting and odds
