India faced a disappointing start to the Malaysia Masters 2026 after the top men’s singles players. Lakshya Sen And HS Prannoy Crashed out in the opening round on Wednesday in Kuala Lumpur.Lakshya, who reached the semi-finals at the Paris Olympics, was comfortably defeated by Indonesia’s Zaki Obaidullah in straight games. After a close first game, the Indonesian took the match 21-17, 21-11 in 43 minutes.Prannoy, the 2023 Malaysian Masters champion, also went out early after a hard-fought battle against world No. 9 Kodai Naraoka of Japan. Prannoy lost the first game, fought back to save a match point in the second, but eventually lost 17-21, 22-20, 22-24 in the hour-long marathon contest.India’s struggles in the men’s singles continued as Thirun Manipuli lost after winning the opening game, while Kiran George retired midway through his match against France’s Alex Lanier due to physical problems.With these defeats, India’s challenge in the men’s section ended on the first day of the tournament.
Women keep India alive.
There was good news in the women’s singles, where Malvika Binsud kept India’s hopes alive with a three-game win over Germany’s Yvonne Li.Ashmita Chiliha also advanced to the second round by defeating Indonesia’s Thalita Ramdhani Wiriawan in straight games. Devika Sahag pulls off a thrilling comeback victory over South Korea’s Park Ga-yeon.However, several other Indian players including Anmol Kharb, Tanvi Sharma and Ishrani Barwah were knocked out.India’s doubles campaign also came to an end after Rutaparna Panda and Swethaparna Panda suffered a heavy defeat against Japan’s top-ranked pair of Rin Ivanga and Kei Nakanishi.
