TOKYO (AFP) – Third-seeded Anders Antonsen crashed out in the first round of badminton’s world championships in Tokyo yesterday.
The 2019 world silver-medallist Antonsen fell behind early and never managed to get a foothold in a 21-15, 21-19 loss to Japan’s Kenta Nishimoto.
The 25-year-old Antonsen was playing his first competitive match in three months after pulling an abdominal muscle in May and said it “felt a bit strange just to suddenly be on court again”.
“I felt like I played better and better and it was a shame that I didn’t make the comeback in the second game, I was so close,” said Antonsen.
“I just need to get back to competition. Today was the beginning.”
