Indonesia Masters: Sikki-Dhruv oust World No. 5 in mixed doubles

Bali: Indian shuttlers Kidambi Srikanth and HS Prannoy notched up contrasting wins to make a positive start to their men’s singles campaign at the Indonesia Masters Super 750 badminton tournament here on Wednesday. While Srikanth staved off a stiff challenge from world no 71 France’s Christo Popov 21-18 15-21 21-16 in an hour and 15 […]

Bali: Indian shuttlers Kidambi Srikanth and HS Prannoy notched up contrasting wins to make a positive start to their men’s singles campaign at the Indonesia Masters Super 750 badminton tournament here on Wednesday.

While Srikanth staved off a stiff challenge from world no 71 France’s Christo Popov 21-18 15-21 21-16 in an hour and 15 minutes, former world no 10 Prannoy saw off Malaysia’s Liew Daren 22-20 21-19 in the opening round. Former world no 1 Srikanth, who had claimed the Indonesia Open Super Series premier in 2017 at Jakarta, will face Indonesia’s sixth seed Jonatan Christie next. Prannoy will be pitted against Olympic champion and second seed Viktor Axelsen of Denmark.

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In mixed doubles, the pairing of Dhruv Kapila and N Sikki Reddy produced a stunning 21-11 22-20 win over second seeds and world number 5 Indonesian duo of Praveen Jordan and Melati Daeva Oktavianti to also advance to the second round. However, it was curtains for world no 16 B Sai Praneeth and former Commonwealth Games champion Parupalli Kashyap.

While Praneeth, who played at the Tokyo Olympics, lost 21-16 14-21 20-22 to Shesar Hiren Rhustavito of Indonesia, Kashyap went down 10-21 19-21 to Denmark’s Hans-Kristian Solberg Vittinghus. Among others, Venkat Gaurav Prasad and Juhi Dewangan also bowed out after losing 15-21 12-21 to Hong Kong’s Chang Tak Ching and Ng Wing Yung, while B Sumeeth Reddy and Ashwini Ponnappa lost 15-21 16-21 to sixth seeded Indonesian pair of Hafiz Faizal and Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja in another mixed doubles match.

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