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It was another mixed day for Indian shuttler’s as Kidambi Srikanth moved into the second round while HS Prannoy was knocked out in the first round itself of China Open 1000 level tournament played at Changzhou Olympic Sports Centre played on Wednesday.
The mixed doubles pair of Ashwini Ponnappa and Satwik Ranki Reddy moved also progressed into the second round while other 2 doubles pair were also knocked out.
In men’s singles, Kidambi Srikanth defeated Denmark Rasmus Gemke in two straight games. It was a good performance by Commonwealth Games silver medallist.
In the first game, the Indian played with aggression right from the start and took a commanding 11-2 lead at the interval. After the interval, Srikanth continued his domination winning the first set 21-9 easily.
The second game was a close fought affair as Srikanth took a 4-2 lead but Gemke came back strongly to take a 6-4 lead. Both players took alternate points till 8-8. At the interval, Danish player had an 11-9 lead.
After the interval, Gemke continued to dominate Srikanth and led 16-13. Srikanth made a great comeback to level the scores at 17-17.
The Indian held his nerves to win the second game 21-19 to move into the second round. He will take on Thailand Avihingsanon.
HS Prannoy disappointed with his performance losing to NG K Long in straight games 16-21, 12-21 to be knocked out of the tournament.
NG K Long played with great control and never allowed the Indian player to come back into the game.
Ashwini Ponnappa and Satwik RankiReddy win, others lose
The mixed doubles pair of Ashwini Ponnappa and SatwikRankiReddy won their first round match against England Ellis and Smith in three games. In the first game, both pairs took 4 points each.
The Indian pair showed their aggression and took an 11-7 lead at the interval. After the interval, the Indian pair continued to dominate winning the first set 21-13.
Smith and Ellis began the second game on an aggressive note racing to a 6-1 lead and continued to put pressure on Ashwini Ponnappa and SatwikRankiReddy. At the interval, the English pair led 11-6.
After the interval, English pair led 20-16 but Ponnappa and RankiReddy saved 4 match points to level the scores at 20-20. Smith and Ellis held their nerves to win the second set 22-20.
In the third and deciding game, the Indian pair came back strongly to lead 6-1 in early stages and take an 11-6 at the interval. After the interval, Smith and Ellis tried their best but the Indian pair won the third game 21-17 to move into the second round. They will play the number 1 ranked pair of Zheng and Huang of China.
The women’s doubles pair of Ashwini Ponnappa and Sikki Reddy was knocked out in the first round losing to Korean Kim S-y and Kong H-y in two straight games 10-21, 18-21.
The young men’s doubles pair of Satwik RankiReddy and Chirag Shetty lost to Goh V S and Tan W K in two straight games. The Indian pair did give a fight to Malaysian pair in both games losing 19-21, 20-22.
