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A week after losing to Kento Momota at the Malaysia Open, Kidambi Srikanth failed to turn the tables as his title defence came to an end in the first round of the $1,250,000 Indonesia Open held at the Istora Gelora Bung Karno in Jakarta, Indonesia on Wednesday. PV Sindhu too was put to a stern test by 20-year-old Pornpawee Chochuwong, but she survived and made it through to the second round.
The fourth seeded Srikanth had lost to the in-form Momota in the semi-finals of the Malaysia Open in straight games. He did put up a much better account of himself against the Asian champion at the Super 1000 event in Jakarta. However, it was still not enough to overcome the challenge of the Japanese, who pulled off a 12-21, 21-14, 21-15 win in exactly an hour.
Last year, the Indonesia Open was the first title for Srikanth in an absolutely stunning season, that saw him triumph at three other Superseries tournaments.
Sindhu, who went down to Tai Tzu Ying in three games in Malaysia last week, brought her fighting qualities to the fore again as she battled her young Thai opponent. The third seed recovered from losing the second game to register a 21-15, 19-21, 21-13 victory over the 24th ranked Chochuwong in 1 hour 4 minutes.
Next up for the India No. 1 women’s singles shuttler is the 16th ranked Aya Ohori of Japan.
The 22-year-old Indian was the only winner from the contingent on a day of disappointments for Indians. Rising star Vaishnavi Reddy Jakka was outplayed 12-21, 10-21 by World No. 25 Line Hojmark Kjaersfeldt of Denmark.
The Indian national men’s doubles champions Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy put up a brave fight against the third seeds Liu Cheng and Zhang Nan only to suffer a 21-15, 15-21, 17-21 defeat in the end.
India’s top mixed doubles pair of Pranaav Jerry Chopra and N Sikki Reddy too went down 12-21, 14-21 to the fourth seeds Zheng Siwei and Huang Yaqiong.
