Thailand Open: Kidambi Srikanth, Saina Nehwal breeze into second round

India shuttler Saina Nehwal (PTI/File Photo)

Kidambi Srikanth, Saina Nehwal on Wednesday advanced into the second round of the ongoing Thailand Open Super 1000 tournament. The 27-year-old shuttler defeated countryman Sourabh Verma 21-12 21-11 in the opening round, while Saina completed a 21-15 21-15 win over Kisona Selvaduray of Malaysia.  

Meanwhile, Parupalli Kashyap failed to complete his first-round match against Canada's Jason Anthony Ho-Shue as the Indian retired midway, which also saw his exit from the tournament. The world no 24 was trailing 8-14 in the third game, before he pulled out from the contest after injuring his calf muscle. He had lost the first game 9-21 before making a comeback to take the second 21-13. 

In men's doubles, the pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty produced a brilliant comeback to defeat the South Korean pair of Kim Gi Jung and Lee Yong Dae 19-21 21-16 21-14. The two were rejoiced with the victory over their idol. "Lee Yong Dae was an idol for both of us when we were starting, so it was excellent playing against him today, and we are happy to get the win," Satwiksairaj said after the match. "Our strategy was to attack as much as possible, but not to hurry. We gave up some points in the first game by hurrying too much. But we always knew what we had to do." Chirag added.

In another upset for India, the pair of Arjun Madathil Ramachandran and Dhruv Kapila failed to sail through the next round. Despite putting up a tough fight, the Indian pair endured a 13-21 21-8 and 24-22 defeat against Malaysia's Ong Yew Sin and Teo Ee Yi.  

The mixed doubles pair of N Sikki Reddy and Sumeeth Reddy B also failed to cross the opening hurdle, losing to Chung Man Tang and Yong Suet Tse 20-22, 17-21. 

PV Sindhu also made an early exit from the tournament.