Picture Credit: Twitter
It was another disappointing day for India in the ongoing Super 1000 badminton tournament, Indonesia Open as eighth-seed Lakshya Sen also bowed out of the tournament after losing in the first round itself. The World Championship bronze–medalist lost to compatriot shuttler HS Prannoy in straight games in the Round of 32 match. Meanwhile, Kidambi Srikanth was shown the exit door by French shuttler Brice Leverdez.
World No.11 Srikanth lost to Leverdez in straight games late in the day to bow out of the tournament. The Indian shuttler lost the first game 21-23 to trail 0-1 the match. He could not make a comeback and lost the second game (10-21) as well. With this loss, Srikanth followed PV Sindhu and Lakshya Sen in walking the exit door of the Indonesia Open.
In the doubles category, the Men’s doubles pair of MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila notched up a win against the Japanese pair of Keiichiro Matsui and Yoshinori Takeuchi. It was a hard-fought win for the Indian pair as they took the first game 27-25. The Japanese pair then fought back in the second game and eventually won it 21-18. However, Arjun and Dhruv Kapila held their nerve in the decider and won it 21-19 to walk away with the game.
Meanwhile, the Women’s doubles pair of Ashwini Bhat and Shikha Gautam lost to the Chinese pair of Shu Xian Zhang and Zheng Yu in straight games. They were defeated 9-21, 10-21 in 28 minutes. The second women’s doubles pair of Haritha Manazhiyil and Ashna Roy also lost to South Korean pair of Na Eun Jeong and Kim Hye Jeong. They lost 9-21, 8-21 in 25 minutes.
India in Round of 16 matches of Indonesia Open
Men's Singles
Sameer Verma vs Lee Zii Jia
HS Prannoy vs NG Ka Long Angus
Men's Doubles
MR Arjun/Dhruv Kapila vs Yu Chen Liu/Ou Xuan Yi
Women's Doubles
Ashwini Ponappa/N Sikki Reddy vs Chen Qing Chen/Yi Fan Jia