India's badminton stars got off to an all-win start in the opening session of the first day of the World Championships yesterday
K Srikanth returns to Russia's Sergey Sirant during the World Championships in Glasgow yesterday
India's badminton stars got off to an all-win start in the opening session of the first day of the World Championships yesterday.
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Srikanth Kidambi, touted as the man to watch out for following his two Super Series wins in Indonesia and Australia, did not break a sweat during his clinical demolition of he Russian Open winner, Sergey Sirant 21-13, 21-12 in 29 minutes in front of an adoring crowd.
Indian pair battle hard
Almost simultaneously, the mixed doubles pairing, never the strongest suit in Indian badminton, saw 17-year-old Satwiksairaj Ranki Reddy combine with K Maneesha, 22, beat a much higher ranked pair from Hong Kong, Tam Chun Hei and Ng Tsz Yau in two hard-fought games 24-22, 21-17.
A little later, buttressing India's growing stature in world badminton was World No. 29, Sameer Verma, who beat Spaniard, Pablo Abian 21-8, 17-4 as the latter, apparently injured, retired in a match where he was never in the fray. Verma will now meet the winner of 16th seed Rajiv Ouseph (Eng) and Czech Adam Mendrek.
The soft-spoken Srikanth, trying to underplay his chances and work on a step-by-step approach, said, "I have not set any targets as such, I just want to play and I want to go match by match. I did not think about the second before this match and now I am only thinking about second round."
'First rounds can be tricky'
But show his understanding of big-ticket events, and the early round pitfalls, they carry, Srikanth added, "First rounds can always be tough in big Championships like this and I am happy that I came through it. It is a confidence booster. The bigger tests will come later. After the Indonesian Open, I had a long break but only I know how much I have worked in that period before coming here. I am feeling good and ready for all," he added.
Srikanth's next opponent will be Frenchman Lucas Corvee who rallied from a first game loss to beat Chinese Taipei's Lin Yu Hsien, 18-21, 21-17, 21-13.
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