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Things have looked bright for the Indian brigade in the Syed Modi International Championships with the likes of Kidambi Srikanth, Sai Praneeth, H S Prannoy, Lakshya Sen and even Parupalli Kashyap making it to Round 2. There wasn't much to grieve over except for the surprise loss of in-form doubles duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty in the early stages of the Super 300 tournament.
For Kidambi Srikanth, it was a good day at the office after a comprehensive 36-minute victory against Russian qualifier Vladimir Malkov in 21-12, 21-11. With that win under his belt, Srikanth has successfully set up a date with Parupalli Kashyap, after Kashyap got a walkover from his French opponent, Lucas Corvee in the first round.
Sai Praneeth also took down the challenge of Iskandar Zulkarnain in a 47-minute affair which concluded with the final score of 21-16, 22-20. With that, Praneeth will play Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand, in his second-round match. For the unseeded H S Prannoy, it was a tough three-game battle against the Chinese force Li Shi Feng. Prannoy eventually surpassed the Chinese to win the match in 18-21, 22-20, 21-13. With that win, he will face Wang Tzu Wei of Chinese Taipei next, who is also the eighth seed.
The recently crowned winner of Scottish Open, Lakshya Sen hasn't had to put his racket skills to the test at Syed Modi International Badminton tournament yet as he got a walkover too. Sen, who is slowly emerging to be a top force to reckon with in the Indian men's circuit gained entry into Round 2 after French shuttler Thomas Rouxel withdrew from the tournament.
Aside from these victories, there was also Sourabh Verma who brushed off the challenge of Canada's Xiaodong Sheng 21-11, 21-16 while Ajay Jayram pulled off a surprise win against fifth seed and fellow Indian shuttler Sameer Verma in 15-21, 21-18, 21-13. Sourabh will be playing Alap Mishra in his Round 2 match while Jayaram will have a stiffer challenge on his plate as he will be going up against China's Zhao Jun Peng. In another match, Siril Verma defeated Chinese Taipei's Huang Ping-Hsien in 12-21, 21-15, 21-3.
Success for women
On the women's front, there was Ashmita Chaliha, Rituparna Das and Tanvi Lad who succesfully took down their opponents to sail into the second round of the tournament. While the Assamese Chaliha will face Kim Hyo Min from Korea . Next, Das and Tanvi will be clashing against each other. In the women's doubles category, the pair of Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy, seeded 8th, have made it to the second round after beating the Hong Kong pair of NG Tsz Yau and Yuen Sin Ying 21-13, 16-21, 21-19. The seasoned doubles duo will take on the English pair of Chloe Birch and Lauren Smith, in their Round 2 match.
The only surprise of the day came with the loss of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, who have been seeded second in the tournament. It was very hapless loss against the Chinese pair of Di Zi Jian and Wang Chang in a straight-game12-21, 21-23.
