India’s Kidambi Srikanth, Sameer Verma and HS Prannoy were on Wednesday knocked out of the Thailand Masters Badminton after suffering first-round defeats in Bangkok.
Verma lost to Malaysia’s Lee Zii Jia 16-21, 15-21 in a 39-minute men’s singles match in the BWF World Tour Super 300 event.
The story went on similar lines for the fifth seeded Srikanth, who went down to Shesar Hiren Rhustavito of Indonesia 21-12, 14-21, 12-21 in a match that lasted 48 minutes. This was Srikanth’s third consecutive first-round exit this season.
Prannoy also suffered a defeat to Daren Liew in the first round 21-17, 20-22, 21-19 in a contest that lasted an hour and eight minutes. The Indian fought back after trailing in the first game but his efforts were not enough to avoid a defeat.
Saina Nehwal, who was the lone Indian survivor in the tournament, also failed to avoid an exit after losing against Denmark’s Line Kjaersfeldt 13-21, 21-17, 21-15 in 47 minutes during the first round.
