Australia Open: Aakarshi Kashyap, Kidambi Srikanth return to form

Kidambi Srikanth's straight-games win over Kenta Nishimoto and Aakarshi Kashyap's first BWF Tour win since March were the highlights for Indian badminton players at the Super 500 Australia Open in Sydney on Wednesday.

On what was a good day for the singles players but not for the mixed doubles pairs, PV Sindhu, Aakarshi Kashyap, HS Prannoy, Kidambi Srikanth and Priyanshu Rajawat all progressed into the Round of 16 by winning their matches.

A dominant second game win helped Srikanth move to the next round as he beat Kenta Nishimoto in straight games 21-18,21-7

Aakarshi Kashyap registered her first Badminton World Tour win since March. The 21-year-old defeated Malaysia’s Goh Jin Wei 21-15, 21-17. She had last won a match in a BWF Tour tournament at the Madrid Masters Super 300.

Aakarshi, who has been struggling for form, will meet PV Sindhu in the next round in what will be another all-Indian affair. On Wednesday, Sindhu got the better of Ashmita Chaliha to move to the R16 with a 21-18, 21-13 straight-games win.

HS Prannoy and Priyanshu Rajawat also sailed through but both the mixed doubles pairs in action on the day - Sikki Reddy and Rohan Kapoor, and Ashwini Ponappa and Sumeeth Reddy - bowed out with straight-games losses.