Hylo Open: Kidambi Srikanth, Sourabh Verma move up; HS Prannoy, Subhankar Dey, Aakarshi Kashyap out
Kidambi Srikanth and Sourabh Verma entered the men’s singles second round of the HYLO Open BWF World Tour Super 500 tournament in Saarbrucken, Germany on Wednesday.
Sixth seed Kidambi Srikanth rolled over Japan’s Koki Watanabe 21-15, 21-10 in 32 minutes to start his campaign in style and book a place in the last sixteen.
Watanabe, ranked 43 in the world, put up a good fight in the first game but lost steam as the match progressed. Former world No. 1 Srikanth was playing against his Japanese opponent for the first time in his career.
28-year-old Srikanth showed signs of returning to form last week as he put up a splendid fight against two-time world champion Kento Momota.
Srikanth was just a couple of points away from shocking the in-form Japanese before losing in the French Open second round.
Kidambi Srikanth will take on Lee Dong Keun of South Korea in the second round on Thursday.
In the last match of the day, Subhankar Dey lost to Lee Dong Keun of South Korea 11-21, 16-21 in 46 minutes.
Subhankar Dey led by four points early in the second game but could not take the match into the decider.
Sourabh Verma reached the pre-quarterfinals after receiving a walkover in the tournament that was formerly known as the SaarLorLux Open.
Sourabh Verma’s first round opponent Max Weisskirchen of Germany withdrew for unknown reasons.
Verma will now face eighth seed Kantaphon Wangcharoen of Thailand, who defeated Canadian teenager Brian Young.
HS Prannoy made a first-round exit as he was upset by lower-ranked Nhat Nguyen in three games. Prannoy went down 21-16, 17-21, 7-21 to world No. 55 Irish shuttler Nhat Nguyen in 57 minutes.
World No. 32 Prannoy began well and grabbed the first game 21-16. However, the former national champion faltered in the next two games.
In the last match of the day, Subhankar Dey lost to Lee Dong Keun of South Korea 11-21, 16-21 in 46 minutes.
Aakarshi Kashyap's late fightback proves futile
In the women's singles, Aakarshi Kashyap went down against Neslihan Yigit of Turkey in her opening round match.
World No. 77 Aakarshi Kashyap lost to Neslihan Yigit of Turkey 7-21, 21-23 in 31 minutes.
After losing the first game quite easily, Aakarshi staged a spirited comeback in the second game.
The 20-year-old Chhattisgarh shuttler was poised to win the second game as she was leading 20-17 at one stage. However, Aakarshi could not make use of three game points and perished against Yigit, ranked 31st in the world. It was Aakarshi's second defeat against the Turkish opponent.
At the Maldives International Challenge in 2019, Yigit had beaten Aakarshi 21-14, 21-13.
Indian results (Round 1)
Men’s singles
6-Kidambi Srikanth bt Koki Watanabe (Japan) 21-15, 21-10 (32 minutes)
Sourabh Verma gets walkover from Max Weisskirchen (Germany)
HS Prannoy lost to Nhat Nguyen (Ireland) 21-16, 17-21, 7-21 (57 minutes)
Subhankar Dey lost to Lee Dong Keun (Korea) 11-21, 16-21 (46 minutes)
Women’s singles
Aakarshi Kashyap lost to Neslihan Yigit (Turkey) 7-21, 21-23 (31 minutes).