India had a disappointing start to their campaign at the 2026 China Open Super 1000 as HS Prannoy and Devika Sihag lost their respective first round matches on Tuesday.
Prannoy, who was up against Leong Jun Hao of Malaysia, failed to put up any sort of fight against the world No 27.
The Indian surrendered 10-21, 14-21 meekly in just 32 minutes to crash out of the competition in the opening round.
On contrary, Sihag pushed world No 20 Busanan Ongbamrungphan of Thailand out of her comfort zone in a match which lasted 61 minutes.
Sihag started off well and gave a good account of herself in the opening game, staying within a touching distance of her opponent before the Thai shuttler upped the ante in the closing stages to win it 21-19.
The Indian youngster, however, wasn’t to be bogged down by it as she bounced back to win the second game by the same margin to force a decider.
However, a tired Sihag was of no match to Ongbamrungphan in the final game as the latter opened up an 11-2 lead before the change of ends.
Though Sihag fought back well after that, the early lead for Ongbamrungphan was too huge to overcome. She eventually lost out 19-21, 21-19, 13-21.
Other Indian shuttlers, including the likes of PV Sindhu, Lakshya Sen, Ayush Shetty, Hariharan Amsakarunan-Arjun MR, Dhruv Kapila-Tanisha Crasto, and Rohan Kapoor-Ruthvika Gadde will open their 2026 China Open Super 1000 campaign on Wednesday.
Sindhu, who had clinched the 2026 Japan Open Super 750 title on Sunday, will be up against her younger compatriot Unnati Hooda in an all-India first round clash.
