NEW DELHI: India's campaign at the Singapore Masters Super 750 tournament came to an end as Kidambi Srikanth suffered a straight games defeat against Chia Hao Lee of Chinese Taipei in the men's singles second round.
Srikanth lost 15-21, 19-21 in a match that lasted just 37 minutes. This was their first meeting on the professional circuit.
In the opening round, Srikanth, the 2021 World Championships silver medallist, emerged victorious against Thailand's Kantaphon Wangcharoen with a score of 21-15, 21-19.
Chia Hao Lee, on the other hand, secured a win against Japan's Kenta Nishimoto in his opening match after being promoted to the main draw from the reserve.
Earlier in the tournament, the promising Indian shuttler Priyanshu Rajawat's impressive run came to an end in the second round as he lost to third seed Kodai Naraoka.
Rajawat, who had caused an upset by defeating Japan's Kanta Tsuneyama, ranked 15th in the world, in the opening round, was defeated by Naraoka with a score of 17-21, 16-21 in straight games.
Naraoka, ranked fourth in the world, had previously eliminated HS Prannoy in the first round, maintaining his dominance against the 37th ranked Indian throughout the 47-minute match.
In the men's doubles category, MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila faced a defeat against England's Ben Lane and Sean Vendy, losing the match 15-21, 19-21 in 41 minutes.
Notably, double Olympic medallist PV Sindhu, the defending champion, had suffered a loss in the opening round to Japan's Akane Yamaguchi, who is currently ranked number one in the world. Former World Championship bronze medallist Lakshya Sen and London Olympics bronze medallist Saina Nehwal also exited the tournament in the first round.
The Indian men's doubles duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, ranked 11th in the world, and Commonwealth Games women's doubles bronze medallists Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand also faced early exits in their respective opening round matches.
