India’s Shubhankar Dey and Ajay Jayaram on Wednesday lost in straight games to be knocked out of the Denmark Open in the first round. While Shubhankar lost to Canada’s Jason Anthony Ho-Shue, Jayaram fell to Danish third seed Anders Antonsen.
Earlier in the day, fifth seed, ace Indian shuttler Kidambi Srikanth came out with a commanding performance as he registered a straight-games win over England’s Toby Penty in his opening round match at the Denmark Open. Srikanth, the former world number one, defeated Penty 21-12, 21-18 in 37 minutes at the Super 750 event, which has marked the resumption of international badminton after seven months.
He will next face either fellow Indian Subhankar Dey or Canada’s Jason Anthony Ho-Shue.Shubhankar lost 21-13, 21-8 to Ho-Shue in a match that lasted 40 minutes. Jayaram, on the other hand, lost 21-12, 21-14 to Antonsen. Srikanth, in a shuttlebout, thrashed Penty 21- 12, 21-18 in 37 minutes. The Super 750 event marks the resumption of international badminton after seven months.
The Denmark Open has marked the resumption of the BWF calendar which has been on a halt since March following the outbreak of novel coronavirus. Meanwhile, Lakshya Sen has already reached the pre-quarters with a straight-game win over Christo Popov on Tuesday. Sen, who held a 3-1 head to head record against Popov, had defeated the Frenchman 21-9, 21-15 in just 36 minutes to make it to the next round of the Super 750 event. He will face Hans-Kristian Solberg Vittinghus of Denmark for a place in the quarterfinals.