Saina, Srikanth continue surge

Saina, Srikanth continue surge

FPJ BureauUpdated: Saturday, June 01, 2019, 02:54 AM IST
article-image

The duo enter round two of Malaysia Open 

Kuala Lumpur : Newly-crowned India Open champions, Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth continued their rampaging international run, notching up contrasting victories to enter the second round of the USD 500,000 Malaysia Open Super Series Premier on Wenesday.

Set to be crowned the world no. 1 tomorrow, Saina hardly broke a sweat as she dumped Maria Febe Kusumastuti  21-13, 21-16 in women’s singles after World No. 4 Srikanth edged out England’s Rajiv Ouseph 10-21, 21-15, 22-24 in men’s singles.

The Olympic bronze-medallist, Saina will next take on a Chinese qualifier Yao Xue even as Srikanth set up a clash with World No.16 Tian Houwei of China.

Saina produced a dominating show in the first game not giving any chance to the Indonesian after opening a huge 12-4 lead early on. At 19-13, she grabbed two straight points to seal the first game.

He blasted 10 straight points to create a huge gulf which Rajiv could never breach as the Indian led 1-0.

Srikanth had the opportunity of sealing the match in the second game itself but he squandered a 6-0 early lead as Rajiv rode on a six-point burst at 13-12 to roar back into the contest. The decider was a rollercoaster ride as Srikanth once again brought his never-say-die attitude to the fore, fighting back from 3-7 and 11-8 down to eventually edge out the England shuttler.

Meanwhile, Commonwealth Games champion Parupalli Kashyap and World No.17 H S Prannoy also advanced to the second round of the men’s singles.

World No.13 Kashyap got the better of South Korean Lee Dong Keun 21-15, 11-21, 21-14 in an hour and 11 minutes contest, while Prannoy defeated Ireland’s Scott Evans 22-20, 21-18 in 40 minutes.

 Prannoy will take on World champion Lin Dan.  Kashyap will face the winner of the match between  Long and Takuma Ueda.

Star Indian women’s doubles combo of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa prevailed over Indonesians Devi Tika Permatasari and Keshya Nurvita Hanadia 21-14, 18-21, 21-16 in a hard-fought 48 minutes battle.

However, Indian men’s doubles pair of Manu Attri and B Sumeeth went down 11-21, 17-21 to the Indonesian duo of Andrei Adistia and Hendra Aprida Gunawan in half an hour.

                                                  —PTI

RECENT STORIES

Ex-New Zealand Cricketer Corey Anderson Added To USA Squad For T20I Series Against Canada; Unmukt...

Ex-New Zealand Cricketer Corey Anderson Added To USA Squad For T20I Series Against Canada; Unmukt...

VIDEO: Ex-CSK Skipper MS Dhoni's Hilarious 'New Captain' Response To Anchor's Question During...

VIDEO: Ex-CSK Skipper MS Dhoni's Hilarious 'New Captain' Response To Anchor's Question During...

'Until You Want Somebody To Fail...': R Ashwin's Epic Response To Michael Vaughan's Question On...

'Until You Want Somebody To Fail...': R Ashwin's Epic Response To Michael Vaughan's Question On...

VIDEO: MI Skipper Hardik Pandya Shoves Off Lasith Malinga After Losing To SRH, Netizens Slam His...

VIDEO: MI Skipper Hardik Pandya Shoves Off Lasith Malinga After Losing To SRH, Netizens Slam His...

'I’m Hitting 4 Sixes In An Over': Riyan Parag's Old Tweet Surfaces After His Explosive Performance...

'I’m Hitting 4 Sixes In An Over': Riyan Parag's Old Tweet Surfaces After His Explosive Performance...