Lakshya Sen and Kiran George advanced to the second round but HS Prannoy and Kidambi Srikanth made early exits at the Indonesia Masters 2024.
Lakshya Sen and Kiran George advanced to the second round but HS Prannoy and Kidambi Srikanth made early exits after suffering narrow losses in their respective opening matches at the Indonesia Masters Super 500 badminton tournament in Jakarta on Wednesday. World No. 19 Sen, avenged his Malaysia Open first-round loss to China’s Weng Hong Yang with a 24-22 21-15 win in his opening-round match.
This win was particularly sweet for Sen as he had previously lost to Weng in the first round of the Malaysia Open, another Olympic qualifying event, earlier this month. Sen now braces himself to face Denmark’s Anders Antonsen in the next round.
Read more: Badminton Asian Team Championship 2024: PV Sindhu and HS Prannoy to lead Indian contingent
Another young sensation Kiran George, world number 23 and winner of two Super 100 titles in 2022 and 2023 triumphed over France’s Toma Junior Popov in a thrilling three-game match, 18-21, 21-16, 21-19. George had qualified for the main draw after winning two matches on Tuesday. His next challenge lies in the form of China’s Lu Guang Zu in the second round.
However, world no. 8 HS Prannoy, who had reached the semifinals at India Open Super 750 last week there were not many positives from the match. Prannoy lost to former world champion Loh Kean Yew of Singapore 18-21 21-19 10-21 in his opening round match.
The 31-year-old Indian, claimed maiden bronze medals at the Asian Games and world championships last year. But this year, Prannoy has had a tough start to the year. Nevertheless, it won’t be long before the southpaw hits his groove.
On the other hand, former world no. 1 Kidambi Srikanth also had to return empty-handed despite putting up a brave effort against Malaysia’s Lee Zii Jia, ranked 10th. Srikanth who forged a new partnership with Parupalli Kashyap put up a brave fight. However, he had to bow down against the World No. 10, Lee Zii Jia.
Srikanth, who is racing against time to qualify for Paris, squandered an opening-game advantage to lose 21-19 14-21 11-21 to Lee in a 54-minute clash to bow out of the tournament. It was his second successive first-round loss of the season after the dismal performance at the India Open.
Read more: Satwik/Chirag chose to skip Indonesia Masters for Thomas Cup title
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