India’s men’s singles players have had a tough time during their European swing, with their poor performance continuing at St Jakobshalle following the All England tournament. The defeats on Thursday lacked the usual fighting spirit from Kidambi Srikanth, HS Prannoy, and national champion Mithun Manjunath.
India has not won a singles Super 750+ title in several seasons, and even a Super 300 tournament like the Swiss Open has proven to be a challenge for the Indian shuttlers. The situation worsened in Basel when Lee Cheuk Yiu of Hong Kong and Christo Popov of France defeated four Indian players in two days: Lakshya Sen and Kidambi Srikanth, and Kiran George and Prannoy, respectively.
The tall Frenchman, ranked World No 40, played a simple game with powerful smashes, while Prannoy struggled defensively and lacked his usual attacking flair. This came after the Indian World No 9 had defeated All England finalist Shi Yuqi the day before. The quick turnaround between the matches did not allow enough time for recovery.
