Badminton
BWF World C’ships: Kidambi Srikanth knocked out; Lakshya, Prannoy win
Lakshya Sen and HS Prannoy moved to second round of the BWF World Championships while Kidambi Srikanth was knocked out.
Kidambi Srikanth reacts after losing a point in the Mixed Team Badminton Final at the Commonwealth Games
Kidambi Srikanth was knocked out of BWF World Championships while HS Prannoy and Lakshya Sen progressed to the men's singles second round of the World Championships on Monday.
Kidambi Srikanth lost to Kenta Nishimoto in straight games 14-21, 14-21 in the first round.
The Japanese shuttler outplayed former world number one and moved to the second round.
HS Prannoy earned a hard-fought win against Kalle Koljonen of Finland 24-22, 21-10.
It was a tight battle in the first game as the Finnish player raced to a lead of 8-4 but Prannoy took seven consecutive points to lead 11-7.
Koljonen troubled Prannoy after the break and had three match points with a lead of 20-17.
HS Prannoy displayed his experience and saved three points to equalize the game.
Prannoy went on to win the first game 24-22 and took the lead.
HS Prannoy will face Chico Dwi Wardoyo of Indonesia in the next round.
The second game was an easier one for the Indian shuttler as he breezed in the second game.
Despite the game being 5-5 at one stage, Prannoy raced to six point lead in the break with a lead of 11-5.
The Finnish shuttler found it hard to deal with deceptions and drops of HS Prannoy in the second game.
Prannoy missed one at the net and Koljonen saved another one before the Indian shut the door with a straight smash.
Reigning Commonwealth Champion Lakshya Sen breezed past Julien Paul of Mauritius in 25 minutes with a score of 21-12, 21-7.
Sen, who had defeated Paul en route his CWG gold, had no issues in brushing aside his rival. He opened up a 11-3 lead and though Paul managed to make it 8-12, the Indian soon changed gears to seal the opening game.
Sen continued in the same vein after the change of sides as it turned out to be an extremely lop-sided contest with the Indian gaining 13-2 lead. Eventually, Paul hit out twice to hand over the match to Sen.
Lakshya will face Jeon Heyok Jin of South Korea in the next round
In mixed doubles, Indian pair of Rohan Kapoor and N Sikki Reddy lost to Scotland's Adam Hall and Julie Macpherson 14-21, 22-20, 18-21 in a 59-minute contest.
