Badminton Asia Championships 2018, Men's Singles, 1st round: Kidambi Srikanth vs Kenta Nishimoto, Live Match Updates

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That was a close shave for Srikanth! He really needs to avoid those extreme slow starts. Srikanth was nowhere in the first game and it was only in Game 2 that he found his rhythm.

Srikanth has a pretty tough draw. If he doesn't manage to settle into his matches right from the start, things can get difficult for him as the quality of his opponents will be very high from the next round.

SRIKANTH WINS!!!!!!!

13-21, 21-16, 21-16

It took him an hour to get his first round win!!

Nishimoto continues to fight back as he now trails 16-20

The Japanese saves yet another!

Nishimoto saves one!

SEVEN MATCH POINTS FOR SRIKANTH

20-13

18-12

Srikanth needs THREE MORE POINTS TO GET THE WIN!!!

17-10 to Srikanth now

Nishimoto is fighting back but Srikanth still has a healthy lead

16-8

It's 15-6 to the former World No. 1

Srikanth soon asserts his supremacy to stretch his lead further to 13-6

Nishimoto gets a point after the break

6-11

He has an 11-5 lead going into the break

Now Srikanth is looking more comfortable as he goes up to 10-5

Srikanth breaks away from the tie to go up to 7-5

Impressive fightback from Nishimoto!

5-5

Srikanth has got his hands full here!

It's 5-3 to the Indian

It's 3-1 in favour of Srikanth

And he extends his lead to 2-0

It's 1-0 for Srikanth in the decider!!

SRIKANTH TAKES THE SECOND GAME 21-16

WE ARE INTO A DECIDER!!!!!!

Nishimoto saves one!

FIVE GAME POINTS FOR THE INDIAN!!!!

20-15

Srikanth regroups and adds THREE POINTS to stretch his lead to 19-13

Once more Nishimoto is making things tough for Srikanth

Srikanth's lead has been cut down to 3 points at 16-13

The pace of the match has slowed down and it is 15-11 to Srikanth

It's 13-11 for Srikanth

Things are getting tight here!

Nishimoto is now closing in and is currently at 10-13

Srikanth needs to be careful here

It's 13-8 in Srikanth's favour

It's 12-7 to the Indian post-interval

Srikanth goes into the break with an 11-5 advantage

And 10-5 it is to the Indian!

The points are exceptionally short now!

It's 9-4 to Srikanth currently!

Looks like the Indian has finally settled into this match!

Finally Srikanth finds his aggression!!!!!

Three quick points go in the Indian's favour to send him up to 6-3

Srikanth has fought back and made it 3-3

Nishimoto once more grabs the lead!

3-2

It's 2-1 to the Indian in Game 2

Srikanth opens up a 1-0 in Game 2

This is the first time the Japanese has won a game against Srikanth in three meetings!

Srikanth saved a game point but it was not enough!

Nishimoto grabs the first game 21-13

EIGHT GAME POINTS FOR NISHIMOTO!

20-12

Srikanth adds a couple of points but has a lot of work to do!

11-19

It's 18-9 to Nishimoto presently

Points are just coming Nishimoto's way thick and fast!

He has increased his lead to NINE POINTS AT 17-8

IT'S AN EIGHT-POINT LEAD FOR THE JAPANESE!!!!!

16-8

Can the Indian still make a comeback in this game?

He has a SIX-POINT ADVANTAGE OVER SRIKANTH NOW!!!

14-8

The Japanese stretches his lead further to 13-8 now

Nishimoto goes into the mid-game break with an 11-8 lead.