Arctic Open: PV Sindhu eliminated following a loss to Canada's Michelle Li.

Vantaa [Finland], October 9: Indian badminton star PV Sindhu was eliminated from the Arctic Open 2024 on Tuesday after losing to Canada's Michelle Li in the first round.

Sindhu struggled from the outset, ultimately falling to Li with scores of 21-16, 21-10 in a match that lasted 37 minutes.

This marked Sindhu's first tournament appearance since the Paris Olympics 2024 and her initial competition under her new coaches, India's Anoop Sridhar and South Korea's Lee Soon Il. After the Paris Olympics, Sindhu parted ways with her former coach, Indonesia's Agus Dwi Santoso.

In their 14 encounters, Sindhu and Li have met, with the Canadian securing only four victories. Li will face India's Unnati Hooda, who won against Brazil's Juliana Viana Vieira with scores of 21-16, 23-25, 21-17.

Additionally, Aakarshi Kashyap advanced to the Round of 16 by defeating Germany's Yvonne Li 21-19, 21-14, in a match that lasted 45 minutes.

Malvika Bansod also progressed to the next round, winning against Chinese Taipei's Sung Shuo Yun with scores of 21-19, 24-22.

In the men's singles, Indian player Kiran George overcame French shuttler Lucas Calarebout with scores of 21-16, 13-21, 21-19 to reach the main draw.

Sathish Kumar Karunakaran's run in men's singles ended with a loss to France's Arnaud Merkle, who won 21-6, 21-13. However, Karunakaran and his partner Aadya Variyath advanced to the mixed doubles after defeating the Estonian pair of Mikk Ounmaa and Ramona Uprus.

On Wednesday, India's Lakshya Sen will return to the court for the first time since reaching the semi-finals at the Paris Olympics. He is set to compete against Denmark's Rasmus Gemke in the first round of men's singles.