All England Open 2018: Kidambi Srikanth vs Brice Leverdez, Live Match Updates

Srikanth def Leverdez 7-21, 21-14, 22-20 to enter R2

Updated: 14 March 2018 19:30 IST - Published: 14 March 2018 14:58 IST

And Srikanth has given India its first win of the All England Open 2018.

Can PV Sindhu join him in R2?

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Follow Sindhu's match live HERE:

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Sai Praneeth's match live HERE:

That was seriously survival of the fittest! Srikanth had to dig deep and save a match point to enter the second round of the All England Open.

It took him some time to get into the groove after being completely outplayed in the opener....after that it was all Sri show until the mid-game interval of the decider. And what a comeback from Brice that was from that point! He sowed the seeds of doubt in Sri's mind again and even held a match point.

But in the end, he rushed things too much and Sri showed his calm demeanour, like he has done so many times in the past under pressure!

Having said all that, Sri cannot afford to have those slow starts...they can become quite costly against a higher-accomplished opponent.

Pheeew! What a match that was! Till the end, nobody knew which way it would go!

Final score: Srikanth def Leverdez 7-21, 21-14, 22-20 in 59 minutes

And Brice pushes the shuttle wide!

Srikanth wins!!!!!

Now Brice misses it in haste!

Sri 21-20

Great job from Sri!

20-20

HE SAVES A MATCH POINT!!!!!

Body shot from Brice!

Match point

Brice sends the shuttle out!

19-19

Quick change of direction stumps Sri.

19-18 to Brice

Another unforced error!

18-18

Sri went for a smash but put it into the net.

18-17

And it is 18-16 for Srikanth

Gopi is shouting instructions!

Crosscourt smash from Sri!

17-16

And the game continues to be tight.

16-16

Now Sri looking hesitant again.

15-15

Too much rush from Brice!

He sends it out.

14-15

A flying Sri finds his half smash.

14-14

He gets a vital point back.

13-14

Sri has to settle in soon for time is running out!

Some doubts clearly showing in Sri's face.

Brice up to 14-12

Sri misses a backhand!

12-13

Sri cannot pick up Brice's cross drop!

12-12

Tense times!

Body shot from Brice!

11-12

Sri cannot take it lightly anymore!

And it's a two-point gap!

10-12

Brice continues to make a dent.

9-12

Brice starts off well after the break and pockets 2 points to reduce the gap to 8-11

And Sri finds the left corner!

Easy as it does!

11-6 going into the midgame interval

One jump smash from Brice!

6-10

Brice cannot put the shuttle over the net.

5-10

Sri now looks pretty much in control of the play and the conditions, although the difference isn't much.

Sri 9-5

4th point in a row!

6-4

And Sri forces the Frenchman into errors here.

He gets 3 points on the trot to surge to 5-4

And it's Leverdez who goes up to 4-2

We are quickly all level.

2-2

Srikanth opens up a 2-0 lead in Game 3.

WOW! What a turnaround that was from the Indian! Can he carry on this form in the decider?

He needs just one to convert!

Srikanth takes the second game 21-14

And Sri now has six game points.

20-14

He still needs to be careful. Brice has a penchant for causing upsets. The Indian cannot afford to relax.

Srikanth wins another exchange.

18-13

Now Sri fumbles at the net.

Lead cut down to four points.

16-12

A loose service from Brice!

10-16

Brice gets a couple of points through quick exchanges.

10-15

It's a seven-point lead for the Indian now.

15-8

A crosscourt drop from Brice!

13-6 for Sri

Sri is all over the shuttle now!

13-5