Former world No. 1 Kidambi Srikanth suffered a disappointing first-round exit at the BWF Korea Masters 2026 after going down 20-22, 21-14, 21-12 to Israel’s Daniil Dubovenko in the men’s singles opening round on Tuesday.
Srikanth, having entered the BWF Super 300 tournament with the aim of building on his second-place finish at the US Open earlier in the season, was unable to secure consistency against Dubovenko. After having just lost the first game 22-20, he was unable to recover as the Israeli won the following two games 21-14 and 21-12, thus ending Srikanth’s campaign at the very first obstacle.
The loss was a blow to India’s bid in the men’s singles event in Asan, since the 33-year-old was not able to build on the promising form he had displayed in the United States.
In the women’s singles event, there was some better news for India since the Taipei Open champion Tanvi Sharma maintained her impressive form by beating China’s Yuan An Qi and thus setting up a second-round match between her and Shriyanshi Valishetty, another Indian player.
India achieved a significant win in the men’s doubles event when the world No. 118 pair Pruthvi Krishnamurthy Roy and Krishna Prasad Garaga beat the fourth-seeded players Worrapol Thongsa-nga and Chaloempon Charoenkitamorn from Thailand.
The Indian team won against the world No. 48 pair 21-16, 21-18 in 42 minutes and thus secured their spot in the second round.
In the men’s singles qualifying round, Tushar Suveer started with a convincing win against Shaurya Gullaiya of Canada, the score being 21-15, 21-12, but he missed out on a spot in the main draw after suffering a 21-10, 21-17 defeat in the qualifying final against Shogo Ogawa of Japan.
In the men’s doubles first round, Arjun Reddy Pochana and Achutaditya Rao Doddavarapu were heavily beaten by the second-seeded pair Choi Sol Gyu and Goh V Shem, the score being 21-3, 21-10.
The Indian women’s doubles team also had to end their campaign early, since Priya Konjengbam and Shruti Mishra were defeated 21-15, 21-13 by Japan’s second-seeded pair, Ririna Hiramoto and Kokona Ishikawa.
