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Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth crashed out of the second round of Super 350 tournament on Thursday, being played in Bangkok. Nehwal suffered a shock 2nd round defeat to Sayaka Takashi of Japan in three grueling games by a scoreline of 21-16, 11-21, 14-21.
Before this match, the Indian had won four matches against her Japanese opponent. Nehwal played her natural game in the first game and won as expected at 21-16.
In the next two games, the Indian was forced into errors and lose the games and offered very little resistance to be knocked out of the tournament.
India men’s ace shuttler Kidambi Srikanth's poor form in 2019 continued as he lost to Khosit Phetpradab by 21-11, 16-21, 12-21 despite raising hopes in the first game.
It was a dominating display of badminton by Srikanth in the first game, not allowing the Thai player to play his natural game. In the next two games, the Indian was not able to respond to the shots and placements of the opponent. He committed lots of errors and was knocked out of the tournament.
Parupalli Kashyap also lost to Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei in two straight games by 9-21, 14-21. Kashyap could not match the speed of his opponent and provided no resistance.
HS Prannoy's tournament also ended as he lost Japanese Kenta Nishimoto in two straight games by 17-21, 10-21 to be knocked out of the tournament. Prannoy provided some resistance in the first game but could not sustain and improve on the same in 2nd game and therefore lost the match.
Sai Praneeth defeated his compatriot Shubankar Dey in two straight sets by 21-18, 21-19 to move into the quarterfinals. It was a closely-fought match in both games, but Sai’s experience saw him through winning the match handsomely. He will take on Kanta Tsuneyama of Japan.
RankiReddy shines
The men’s doubles pair of Satwisairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty upset the seventh-ranked Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto in two straight sets by 21-17, 21-19 to move into the quarterfinals. The Indian pair proved their worth with attacking badminton and did not allow their better-ranked opponents to dominate the game. They will meet Choi Soi Gyu and Seo Seung Jae of Korea in the quarterfinals.
The mixed doubles pair of Rankireddy and Ashwini Ponnappa defeated Alfian Eko Prasteya and Marsheilla Gischa Islami Islami of Indonesia in two straight sets by 21-18, 21-19 to move into the quarterfinals. The Indian pair showed their class and never allowed the Indonesian pair to get a foothold in the match. They will take on Yuta Watanabe and Arisa Higashino of Japan.
In another mixed doubles match, Pranaav Chopra and Sikki Reddy lost to the Hong Kong pair of Tang Chun Man and Tse Ying Suet in two straight games by 16-21, 11-21 to be knocked out of the tournament. They did not offer any resistance to the Hong Kong pair.
