PV Sindhu and Srikanth Kidambi notched up hard-fought victories on a mixed day for Indian shuttlers at the Thailand Open Super 500 badminton tournament in Bangkok on Wednesday.
Sindhu was made to work hard by American left-hander Lauren Lam but she found the answers eventually to win 21-19, 19-21, 21-18 in a match that lasted 59 minutes.
Srikanth, too, took three games to reach the men’s singles round of 16. The 29-year-old, who won all six of his matches in India’s historic Thomas Cup 2022 triumph recently, defeated France’s Brice Leverdez 18-21, 21-10, 21-16.
Sindhu will next face Korea’s Uber Cup hero Sim Yujin while Srikanth takes on Nhat Nguyen from Ireland.
Also read: Srikanth Kidambi, unbeaten and unfazed, leads India to the top of the world
The other Indians who advanced were Malvika Bansod, the women’s doubles pair of Ashwini Bhat and Shikha Gautam, and the mixed doubles pair of Tanisha Crasto and Ishaan Bhatnagar.
Bansod set up a round of 16 meeting with Denmark’s Line Christophersen after a 17-21, 21-15, 21-11 victory against Ukraine’s Maria Ulitina. The Dane had stunned An Seyoung in three games.
Ashwini and Shikha moved ahead in the competition with a 21-12, 21-17 victory against Thailand’s Kittipak Dubthuk and Prinda Pattanawaritthipan, while Crasto and Bhatnagar got a walkover against USA’s Isabel Zhong and Mathew Fogarty.
Along with these successes, though, there were a number of defeats too for Indian shuttlers at the Thailand Open on Wednesday.
Ashmita Chaliha was up against world No 8 Ratchanok Intanon while Aakarshi Kashyap faced world No 12 Michelle Li and both youngsters went down in straight games. Ashmita lost 10-21, 15-21 while Kashyap lost 13-21, 18-21.
Saina Nehwal was off to a promising start against Kim Gaeun, who was part of Korea’s Uber Cup 2022 gold medal-winning squad. The Indian legend took the first game but Kim came back strongly to win the match 11-21, 21-15, 21-17.
In men’s singles, HS Prannoy went down in a hard-fought match against Malaysian world No 34 Liew Daren. The 29-year-old, who won each of his five matches in India’s victorious Thomas Cup campaign, lost 17-21, 21-15, 15-21 in 65 minutes. That quarter of the draw has opened up after another shock defeat for Kento Momota in straight games against China’s Zhao Jun Peng.
B Sai Praneeth also lost his men’s singles encounter. The 29-year-old went down 12-21, 13-21 against Thailand’s Kantaphon Wangcharoen. Sourabh Verma’s defeat also came in straight games 20-22, 12-21 against France’s Toma Junior Popov.
In mixed doubles, India’s Ashwini Ponnappa and Sumeeth Reddy lost 17-21, 17-21 against Japanese eighth seeds Misaki Matsutomo and Yuki Kaneko. Juhi Dewangan and Venkat Gaurav Prasad also lost 15-21, 11-21 against Indonesia’s Hediana Julimarbela and Zachariah Josiahno Sumanti.
In men’s doubles, Mohamed Rehan and Anees Kowsar lost 12-21, 13-21 against Japan’s Naru Shinoya and Kyohei Yamashita.
In the last match of the day featuring an Indian, Vishnuvardhan Goud and Krishna Prasad, part of the Thomas Cup-winning squad, lost 21-23, 11-21 against China’s Chang Wang and Wei Keng Liang.