Kidambi Srikanth, Kiran George enter second round of Arctic Open

Former world number one Srikanth sailed into the second round after his German opponent Max Weisskirchen retired while lagging 6-11

Vantaa: Indian shuttlers Kidambi Srikanth and Kiran George progressed to the men’s singles prequarterfinals but it was curtains for Mithun Manjunath at the Arctic Open Super 500 badminton tournament, here on Wednesday.

Former world number one Srikanth, who was a part of India’s silver medal winning team at the Asian Games, sailed into the second round after his German opponent Max Weisskirchen retired while lagging 6-11.

---

Kiran, who had claimed his second BWF World Tour Super 100 title by lifting the Indonesia Masters trophy last month, stunned France’s Toma Junior Popov 24-22, 15-21, 21-15 in a 73-minute clash.

Srikanth will face either of Japan’s Kanta Tsuneyama or Indonesia’s Shesar Hiren Rhustavito next, while Kiran will clash with the fourth-seeded Lu Guang Zu of China.

Manjunath, however, suffered a 19-21, 14-21 defeat against China’s Weng Hong Yang to bow out. He had lost to the Chinese in the men’s team championships final at the Hangzhou Asian Games as well.

Among others, the mixed pair of Sai Pratheek and Tanisha Crasto and the women’s combination of Rutuparna Panda and Swetaparna Panda also exited after losing their respective opening round matches.