India's ace tennis player Sumit Nagal went down fighting against Argentina's Mariano Navone in the round of 16 of men's singles at the Swedish Open on Thursday, July 18. Rohan Bopanna and Sriram Balaji also faced a first-round elimination in the German Cup in their final preparations for the upcoming Paris Olympics 2024.
Sumit Nagal, Rohan Bopanna and Sriram Balaji are set to represent India in badminton at the Summer Olympics in Paris starting on July 26. Nagal is named in the squad for the men's singles event while Bopanna and Balaji will represent in the men's doubles in the Paris Games.
The home favourites Jakob Schnaitter and Mark Wallner registered an easy win of 1-6, 4-6 over the Indian pair in the round of 16 match in the German Open while Argentina's Mariano Navone, ATP-ranked 32, knocked out Nagal in the men's singles at Swedish Open today.
Bopanna and Balaji were seeded sixth in the German Open and were expected to bond with a couple of matches together before the Paris Games 2024. The duo registered just one ace and were poor with serves throughout the match. They also dropped serve thrice in a match as the German opponent proved too strong for Indian stars.
The 26-year-old Nagal has been impressive on clay in 2024 and the Paris Olympics matches will be played on the same court. Nagal missed a golden chance to face the 22-time Grand Slam winner and two-time Olympic medalist Rafael Nadal in the quarter-final at Swedish Open who beat Cameron Norrie on Thursday to continue his dream return.
Early eliminations for Indian tennis players suggest a lack of preparations for the Paris Olympics. Both Bopanna and Balaji were playing together in the men's doubles for the first time in their careers and have reportedly withdrawn from the Croatia Open due to unknown reasons.
