Thailand Open: Saina, Srikanth progress, Kashyap retires on Day 2

Indian badminton ace Saina Nehwal comfortably reaches Round 2 of the Thailand Open Super 1000 tournament after she beat Malaysia's Kisona Selvaduray 21-15, 21-15 in her opening match which got postponed from Tuesday.

Both Nehwal and H.S. Prannoy, who had earlier been pulled out of the showpiece event citing positive COVID-19 tests, competed in their first-round match respectively after testing negative for coronavirus.

In men's singles Kidambi Srikanth sailed into the second round, after a comfortable win over compatriot Sourabh Verma on Wednesday. Sourabh failed to cross the opening hurdle, losing to Kidambi 21-12, 21-11 in two consecutive sets. Kidambi, who on Tuesday shared pictures of his bleeding nose, following the ''unacceptable'' treatment being meted out to him while conducting coronavirus tests, sealed an easy win in a match that lasted just 31 minutes. Sameer Verma followed the footsteps of his brother Sourabh to exit in the first round. Sameer lost to Indonesia's Shesar Hiren 15-21, 17-21.

Kidambi Srikanth got the better of Sourav Verma in Round 1

Parupalli Kashyap made an early exit from the after he was forced to retire midway in his opening-round match against Jason Anthony Ho-Shue of Canada here on Wednesday. Kashyap, a former Commonwealth Games champion, was trailing 8-14 in the third game when he chose to retire as he pulled his calf muscle. He had lost the first game 9-21 before making a comeback to take the second 21-13.

Earlier in the day, the Indian men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty cruised into the second round of the tournament. The world number ten Indian pair outclassed the South Korean pair of Kim Gi Jung and Lee Yong Dae 19-21, 21-16, 21-14 in the first round of the tournament. The other Indian men's doubles pair of B Sumeeth Reddy and Manu Attri went down to home favourites Weeraphat Phakjarung and Wongsathorn Thongkham 19-21, 14-21 in the first round to exit the tournament.

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty cruised into the second round

Meanwhile, the Badminton World Federation (BWF) on Wednesday said that a doctor from the COVID-19 testing team attended Kidambi "shortly" after the team member reported that he had a nosebleed following a coronavirus test.

"On Tuesday, the player indicated he suffered a nose bleed following a mandatory PCR test. A doctor from the COVID-19 testing team located at the hotel attended to Kidambi shortly after," the BWF said in a statement.