Ajay Jayaram bounced back from his loss in the Dutch Open final earlier in the week with a comfortable 21-15, 21-16 against Thailand's Boonsak Ponsana in the first round of the Denmark Open on Odense on Wednesday. HS Prannoy had a harder game but prevailed 21-13, 19-21, 22-20 over Malaysia's Wei Feng Chong in a match that lasted for more than an hour.
B Sai Praneeth, who lifted the Canada Open in July, was beaten by Thailand's Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk in a hard-fought 17-21, 21-19, 15-21 loss. Jayaram will now face the winner between China's Shi Yuqi and third seed Jan O Jorgensen in the second round. Prannoy faces the daunting prospect of meeting top seed, Malaysia's Lee Chong Wei.
In the doubles competition, Manu Attri and Sumeeth Reddy lost 10-21 19-21 to local pair Kim Aastrup and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen.