Vantaa, 08 October (H.S.): World Championships medallists Kidambi Srikanth and HS Prannoy suffered first-round exits in the men’s singles event at the Arctic Open 2026 here on Wednesday. According to Olympics.com, world No. 31 Srikanth was beaten by Canada’s world No. 34 Brian Yang 15-21, 21-15, 21-13.

Srikanth made an impressive start and took the opening game, but Yang fought back strongly to win the next two games and bring the Indian shuttler’s campaign to an end.

World No. 38 Prannoy, meanwhile, was comfortably beaten 21-10, 21-9 by fourth-seeded Dane Anders Antonsen. Prannoy struggled to match the pace of his highly ranked opponent throughout the contest and bowed out in straight games.

India, however, enjoyed a notable success in men’s doubles, with Krishna Prasad Garaga and Pruthvi Krishnamurthy Roy producing a major upset. The unseeded Indian pair defeated fifth seeds He Ji Ting and Ren Xiang Yu of China 10-21, 21-18, 22-20 in a 61-minute contest to advance to the round of 16. After losing the opening game, the Indians mounted an impressive comeback to win the next two and seal a memorable victory.

In men’s singles, however, India’s Tharun Mannepalli and Rounak Chouhan were unable to progress further. Tharun, who had entered the main draw through the qualifiers, lost to Denmark’s Magnus Johannesen 16-21, 14-21. Chouhan, also a qualifier, went down to China’s Weng Hong Yang 20-22, 22-20, 17-21 after fighting back to force a deciding game.

In women’s singles, two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu had already advanced to the second round after defeating Canada’s Wen Yu Zhang 21-8, 21-11. Tanvi Sharma also progressed to the second round with a 21-15, 21-17 victory over Taiwan’s Chiu Pin Chian. Sindhu, the sixth seed, will face Japan’s Riko Gunji, while Tanvi is set to take on top seed and former world champion Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand.

The Arctic Open 2026 is being held in Vantaa, Finland, from October 6 to 11 as a BWF World Tour Super 500 event.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar