China Open: Kidambi Srikanth's campaign ends after another defeat to Kento Momota
Other Sports | September 21, 2018 15:09 ISTSrikanth had lost to Momota at the Malaysia Open and Indonesia Open in June and July respectively.
Srikanth had lost to Momota at the Malaysia Open and Indonesia Open in June and July respectively.
Third seed Sindhu bounced back after losing a close first game to record a 21-23, 21-13, 21-18 win in her second round women's singles match.
World No 25 Satwiksairaj and Ashwini, who had lost twice to the English combination in the past, executed their plan well to notch up a 21-13, 20-22, 21-17 win.
Just like his compatriots, fatigue seemed to have caught up with the seventh-seeded Srikanth as he squandered a game's lead to lose 21-19, 16-2, 18-21 against Korea's Lee Dong Keun.
Sindhu, who has endured a hectic BWF season reaching five finals including three majors at CWG, World Championship and Asian Games, seemed mentally drained as errors crept into her game.
Sindhu had to sweat it out for 53 minutes before prevailing 21-17 7-21 21-13 over unseeded local girl Sayaka Takahashi in her women's singles opening round.
Among the men, Kidambi Srikanth and HS Prannoy will look to get over the disappointing campaigns in the World championship and the Asian Games.
After the women's team went down 1-3 to top seeds Japan earlier in the day, the men's team put up a spirited effort before losing 1-3 to hosts Indonesia.
The players, the coaches, the support staff all of them put in efforts to be in good shape, said the Indian badminton chief coach as India take off for Jakarta.
Saina Nehwal dropped out of the top 10 while Kidambi Srikanth slipped two places to eighth in the latest BWF singles rankings released on Thursday.
Saina showed amazing retrieving skills against Inthanon, who is on a comeback trail after recovering from an injury.
It took the star shuttler 35 minutes to ease past the Indonesian, dominating the proceedings and imposing authority to win 21-14, 21-9 to enter the pre-quarters.
Srikanth, who had clinched four titles last year, will now lock horns with Malaysia's Daren Liew, a former world no 10.
The Olympic medallist Indian had received a bye in the first round.
With two bronze medals in 2013 and 2014 and a silver last year, Sindhu has an impressive record at the World Championship.
While Saina skipped last week's Thailand Open, Sindhu made it to the final before losing to reigning World Champion Nozomi Okuhara, who climbed up two spots to 6th.
Memories of Sindhu and Okuhara battling in one of the greatest matches of all time during the summit clash in Glasgow last year is still fresh in the minds of badminton aficionados.
On a day when rest of the Indian shuttlers found the going tough, World No. 3 Sindhu continued her impressive run with a 21-16, 21-14 win over Hong Kong's Yip Pui Yin.
Kidambi Srikanth has withdrawn from the Thailand Open, starting from Tuesday, due to an injury.
Sindhu and Srikanth were in rampaging form last season, clinching multiple crowns but this season so far a title has eluded both despite dishing out consistent performances in major tournaments.
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