Orleans Masters: Praneeth crashes out after losing to Popov

Orleans: Former world championships bronze medallist B Sai Praneeth crashed out of the Orleans Masters 2022 badminton tournament after losing to Christo Popov of France in the men's singles round of 16 match, here on Thursday.

Praneeth, world No. 19 in the badminton world rankings, went down to his 60th-ranked opponent Popov 12-21, 11-21 in the BWF Super 100 event.

The 20-year-old Popov settled early and dominated Praneeth to take the first game. The Indian shuttler, who was also the top seed at the tournament, found no respite in the second game and went on to lose the match in 33 minutes.

Meanwhile, India's mixed doubles pair of Ishaan Bhatnagar and Tanisha Crasto beat the Netherlands' Ties Van Der Lecq and Debora Jille 21-18, 22-20 to move into the quarter-finals.

However, in the women's singles, Ira Sharma, ranked 91st, lost to world No 80 from Australia Hsuan-Yu Wendy Chen 11-21, 17-21. The Indian had upset France's Qi Xuefei, a player ranked 47 places above her, 21-14, 21-17 in the previous round.

Notably, higher-ranked Indian players like Kidambi Srikanth, Lakshya Sen, PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal have skipped the tournament in France.

Also read: Swiss Open: Sindhu clinches women's singles title; Prannoy finishes as runner-up

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