On his return to competitive action, India’s Kidambi Srikanth registered a straight-games win against England’s Toby Penty at the Denmark Open, which marked the resumption of international badminton after seven months.

The former world No 1 beat Penty 21-12 21-18 in 37 minutes, as the sport finally got going after the long coronavirus-forced hiatus.

The fifth seed will face Canada’s Jason Anthony Ho-Shue in the next round.

It wouldn’t be an all-Indian second round match as Subhankar Dey lost in straight games against Jason Anthony Ho-Shue. The Indian went down 13-21, 8-21 in 40 minutes. The Canadian player will now face fifth seed Srikanth in the next round.

In the final first round match featuring an Indian, Ajay Jayaram showed flashes of brilliance but third seed Anders Antonsen was too good. The Danish rising star beat Ajay 21-12, 21-14 in a match that lasted 37 minutes.

Lakshya Sen has already reached the second round with a straight game win over Christo Popov on Tuesday. He will face Hans-Kristian Solberg Vittinghus of Denmark in his next round.

The 19-year-old Indian, who claimed five titles including two Super 100 tournaments last year, produced a clinical performance to outwit Popov 21-9 21-15 to reach the second round.

Denmark Open Super 750 is the only event happening this year as the BWF was forced to cancel multiple tournaments and postpone the Asia leg and the World Tour Final to January 2021.

(With PTI inputs)