Top Indian shuttler Kidambi Srikanth sailed into the second round of men’s singles with a comfortable straight-game win over Japan's Koki Watanabe in the HYLO Open Super 500 tournament Saarbrucken, Germany on Wednesday. (More Badminton News)
Sixth seed Kidambi Srikanth subdued Watanabe 21-15, 21-10 in 32 minutes. However, HS Prannoy made a first-round exit while compatriot Sourabh Verma advanced to the pre-quarterfinals after receiving a walkover in the tournament that was formerly known as SaarLorLux Open.
Prannoy went down 21-16, 17-21, 7-21 to lower-ranked Irish shuttler Nhat Nguyen in the men's singles match that lasted 57 minutes. Verma, on the other hand, received a walkover in his first-round match against Max Weisskirchen of Germany.
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The reason for the German's withdrawal was not known. Verma will face the winner of the match between Canadian Brian Young and eight-seed Kantaphon Wangcharoen of Thailand in the round of 16.
Srikanth showed signs of returning to form last week as he put up a spirited fight against two-time world champion Kento Momota of Japan before losing in the French Open second round.
Meanwhile, Subhankar Dey surrendered against Lee Dong Keun of South Korea, losing 11-21, 16-21. Dong Keun will face Srikanth in the next round. In the women's singles, Aakarshi Kashyap will play Neslihan Yigit of Turkey in her opening round match.
