Former world No. 1 Kidambi Srikanth fell in the first round itself as he made an early exit from the Orleans Masters 2026 badminton tournament at the Palais des Sports in France on Wednesday.
Kidambi Srikanth, who is ranked 30th in the men’s singles, was beaten 21-12, 21-10 by Magnus Johannesen of Denmark in the opening round of the BWF Super 300 tournament.
The Indian was quick off the blocks, surging to a 5-2 lead before Magnus Johannesen seized control of the match by taking an 11-6 lead at the interval on way to comfortably closing out the opener.
Srikanth attempted to mount a comeback in the second game, narrowing the gap to 12-10 at one stage. However, Magnus Johannesen produced a ruthless burst as he picked up nine straight points to seal the match in just 26 minutes.
Ayush downs Kiran in an all-Indian contest
Ayush Shetty, the 2025 US Open champion, advanced to the men’s singles second round after rallying to beat Kiran George 17-21, 21-10, 21-17 in an all-Indian first-round contest.
After taking a slender 11-10 lead into the break, Kiran notched up five consecutive points and opened up a big enough cushion to win the opener. Eighth seed Shetty, though, upped the ante in the second game, dominating from start to finish as he pushed the match into a decider.
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Shetty carried his momentum into the decisive third game, opening up an 11-7 advantage at the interval. Kiran staged a spirited comeback to close the gap to 16-15, but Shetty held his nerve in the closing exchanges to quell the late surge and book his place in the second round.
Anmol, Malvika, Tanvi advance
In the women’s singles, Anmol Kharb stormed into the second round after a convincing 21-12, 21-16 win against Olympian Neslihan Arın of Turkiye.
Malvika Bansod also won her women’s singles match against Sung Shuo-yun of Chinese Taipei by a 21-18, 21-14 scoreline.
Meanwhile, Tanvi Sharma knocked out second seed Supanida Katethong as the Thai shuttler was forced to retire from the match while trailing 18-21, 12-14.
Rakshitha, Devika go down
Rakshitha Ramraj and Devika Sihag lost their respective first-round women’s singles encounters.
Rakshitha Ramraj was beaten 21-9, 21-15 by Manami Suizu of Japan, while Devika Sihag lost 21-15, 14-21, 15-21 to Olympian Lo Sin Yan of Hong Kong China.
Indian mixed doubles duo Dhruv Kapila-Tanisha Crasto also lost in the first round. Going down 21-14, 21-18 against Dejan Ferdinansyah-Bernadine Wardana of Indonesia.
