Good morning and welcome to the Sportskeeda live coverage of the 2018 Japan Open second round. Kidambi Srikanth plays the experienced Wong Wing Ki Vincent of Hong Kong for a place in the quarter-finals.
Srikanth is the seventh seed while Wong is unseeded. Srikanth is ranked eighth in the world now and Wong is 27th. The Indian leads the head-to-head record 5-3 but it is Wong who emerged victorious in their most recent encounter. Wong beat Srikanth in two tight games in the second round of the Asian Games.
The Indian was pretty error-prone in that match and he has definitely been underperforming in the 2018 season after such a successful 2017. However, his first round at the Japan Open was a promising affair when he beat Huang Yuxiang comfortably. If that is a sign, we are in for a resurgent show from the India No. 1 shuttler at this tournament.