India’s Kidambi Srikanth eased into the second round of the Thailand Open with a 21-12, 21-11 win over compatriot Sourabh Verma on Wednesday. Srikanth was dominant in the match that lasted 31 minutes.
Srikanth will now face either compatriot H.S. Prannoy or Malaysian Lee Zii Jia, who play their first-round fixture later in the day.
Earlier, Parupalli Kashyap made an exit from the tournament after he retired in the third game of his first-round clash against Canada’s Jason Anthony Ho-Shue owing to a calf injury.
After losing the first game 9-21, Kashyap made a comeback in the second game to clinch it 21-13. The third game saw Ho-Shue lead 14-8, but the Indian shuttler decided to retire and as a result, the Canadian progressed to the second round.
Earlier in the day, the mixed doubles pair of Sumeeth Reddy and Sikki Reddy bowed out after losing 20-22, 17-21 to Tang Chun Man and Tse Ying Suet in their first-round clash.
In men’s doubles, the Indian pair of MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila narrowly lost their opening-round contest 21-13, 8-21, 22-24 to the Malaysian pair of Ong Yew Sin and Teo Ee.
However, the star pair of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy fought back to beat their South Korean opponents Kim Gi Jung and Lee Yong Dae 19-21, 21-16, 21-14 in a match that lasted one hours and eight minutes and entered the second round of the tournament.
On Tuesday, in a dramatic turn of events, Saina Nehwal, Kashyap, and Prannoy were cleared to compete in the Super 1000 badminton tournament, just hours after they were forced to withdraw from the event. Saina and Prannoy had been forced to withdraw from the tournament after they tested positive for Covid-19. Kashyap, the husband of Saina, also had to withdraw as he was sharing a room with his wife and was asked to self-quarantine.
