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Through the roof

kuala lumpur: An inconsistent Lakshya Sen faltered in his opening match, while HS Prannoy endured a frustrating start to the season-opening Malaysia Open Super 1000 tournament as his opener against Canada’s Brian Yang was suspended midway due to a leaking roof at the Axiata Arena on Tuesday.

Lakshya, coming off a title win at the Syed Modi International in Lucknow and a third-place finish at the King Cup International, failed to replicate his recent form and succumbed to Chi Yu Jen of Chinese Taipei, losing 14-21 7-21.

The Indian shuttler’s game was riddled with unforced errors, leaving him with little chance against the 27-year-old.

Prannoy, returning to action after the Olympics, was leading 21-12 6-3 when rainwater began seeping through the roof, forcing play to stop on Court 3 about 25 minutes into the match. On the other hand, Lakshya Sen suffered a 14-21 7-21 first-round loss to Chi Yu Jen.

After a delay of over an hour, play resumed around 4:15 pm, but the match was halted again as the leak persisted.

Yang was leading 11-9 in the second game when officials decided to suspend the match, which will now resume on Wednesday with the score at 21-12 9-11.

“Prannoy’s match has been suspended. He will start with the same score tomorrow. A decision regarding other matches will be taken by 8:30 pm,” said India coach RMV Gurusaidutt, who was courtside.

Prannoy had raised the issue with the chair umpire after water started pooling on the left front section of the court. Organisers inspected the area, leading to the suspension.

Matches on Court 2 were also stopped for the same reason, while Court 1 remained operational. In bizarre scenes, organisers were seen using white towels to dry the courts.

Earlier in the day, India’s women’s doubles duo of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand easily overcame Ornnicha Jongsathapornparn and Sukitta Suwachai, beating the Thai pair in straight games in the opening round. The Indian pair, seeded sixth here, won 21-10 21-10 in 30 minutes to move into the last-16.

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