Indian Shuttlers Face Early Exits at Arctic Open 2026

Early Departures for Indian Players

In Vantaa, Finland, on October 8, both Kidambi Srikanth and HS Prannoy, who are renowned World Championships medallists, faced disappointing first-round eliminations in the men's singles category at the Arctic Open 2026, as reported by a sports news outlet.

Srikanth, currently ranked 31st globally, started strong against Canada's Brian Yang, who holds the 34th position. However, he ultimately succumbed with scores of 15-21, 21-15, and 21-13.

On the other hand, Prannoy, ranked 38th, encountered a tough match against Denmark's fourth-seeded Anders Antonsen, losing decisively with scores of 21-10 and 21-9.

In a brighter turn for India, the men's doubles team of Krishna Prasad Garaga and Pruthvi Krishnamurthy Roy, who entered the tournament unseeded, achieved a remarkable upset against the fifth-seeded pair from China, He Ji Ting and Ren Xiang Yu.

After dropping the first game, the Indian duo rallied back to secure a thrilling victory with scores of 10-21, 21-18, and 22-20, advancing to the round of 16 after a 61-minute battle.

Tharun Mannepalli also kept India's hopes alive in the men's singles by defeating Denmark's Magnus Johannesen in straight games, winning 21-16 and 21-14, thus moving on to the second round.

Tharun is set to face France's second seed, Christo Popov, for a chance to reach the quarter-finals.

Rounak Chouhan, who also made it to the main draw through qualifiers, unfortunately exited after a tightly contested match against Weng Hong Yang from China. Chouhan fought back to force a deciding game but ultimately lost 22-20, 20-22, 21-17.

In the women's singles, two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu and Tanvi Sharma are scheduled to start their campaigns in the second round on Thursday. Sindhu, seeded sixth, will compete against Japan's Riko Gunji, while Tanvi faces the top seed and former world champion Ratchanok Intanon from Thailand.