Thailand Open: Prannoy stunned by Meiraba Maisnam, Satwik-Chirag advance to 2nd round

HS Prannoy suffered a first-round exit as he lost to qualifier Meiraba Luwang Maisnam at the Thailand Open Super 500 in Bangkok on Wednesday.

Maisnam made quick work of the fifth-seeded Indian as the world no. 84 won the match 21-19, 21-18 in 31 minutes.

With his magnificent court coverage and brilliant retrieving skill, the 21-year-old from Imphal, Manipur registered the biggest win of his career.

After taking a close first game, Maisnam pulled away to a 4-0 lead in the second game and retained his lead at the interval at 11-9. He would quickly march ahead as Prannoy struggled to find his rhythm back.

Though Prannoy attempted a late fight closing the game at 18-19, Maisnam held his nerves and won the game to advance to the Round of 16.

Prannoy struggles to overcome initial rounds

Prannoy, who enjoyed a stellar season last year, has been off-colour this year. Except for a third-place finish at the India Open Super 750, five first-round, including the Thailand Open, and a second-round exit, were all he could manage on the World Tour this season.

Last month, Prannoy revealed an old disease that troubled him in the past has resurfaced. Prannoy's worry is a malfunctioning muscle lining the oesophagus that was causing food to move up, causing nausea.

“What I was feeling was when I eat the food doesn’t go down,” Prannoy told BWF last month. “Whenever I train (the food) comes up and forward to the chest side and I need to vomit. It is kind of related with the acid reflux obviously. The food is not able to do get down. I can feel the food coming out, that’s where my breathing goes for a toss," he added.

With the Paris Olympics less than two months away, Prannoy finds himself at a crossroads.

Maisnam will face Mads Christophersen of Denmark in the Round of 16. Christophersen defeated India's Kiran George 15-21, 21-13, 17-21 in the Round of 32.

Sathish Karunakaran, on the other hand, suffered a 13-21, 17-21 defeat against Jason Gunawan.

Satwik-Chirag win in straight games

Meanwhile, the top-seeded men's doubles pairing of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty opened their campaign with a straight-game (21-13, 21-13) win over Malaysia's Nur Mohd Azriyn Ayub Azriyn and Tan Wee Kiong.

Satwik-Chirag will face Xie Hao Nan and Zeng Wei Han in the next round.

Ashmita only hope in women's singles

In women's singles, four out of the five players were eliminated in the first round itself.

Ashmita Chaliha won a thriller against Ester Nurumi Tri Wardoyo 19-21, 21-15, 21-14, and Unnati Hooda lost to Lianne Tan of Germany 21-14, 14-21, 9-21.

It was also the end of the road for Malvika Bansod, who lost to Han Yue of China 11-21, 10-21, and Samiya Imad Farooqui, who lost to Gao Fang Jei.

Aakarshi Kashyap's campaign also ended in the first as she lost to local star Busanan Ongbamrungphan 13-21, 8-21.

In women's doubles, Unnati Hooda and Palak Arora retired hurt after losing the opening game 6-21. The Indian duo was trailing 4-5 in the second game.

In the battle of the siblings in women's doubles, Panda sisters - Rutuparna and Swetaparna hammered Rapria sisters Nikki and Nishu 21-9, 21-5 to advance to the next round.