Punjab Newsline,Sports:
Former champion goes down to France’s Christo Popov in a hard-fought contest; mixed results for Indian shuttlers across categories
Former champion Kidambi Srikanth bowed out of the BWF India Open in the second round on Thursday, losing to French shuttler Christo Popov in the round of 16 at the Indira Gandhi Sports Complex. Srikanth went down 14-21, 21-17, 17-21 in a match that lasted over an hour.
The former world No. 1 and 2021 World Championships silver medallist dropped the opening game 14-21 but showed strong resolve to bounce back in the second. Playing with better control and patience, Srikanth clinched the game 21-17 to force a decider. However, Popov raised his level in the third game, stayed steadier in the closing stages, and sealed the match with a 21-17 win. This was Srikanth’s first defeat against Popov in their third career meeting.
India’s campaign in the women’s singles also came to an end after Malvika Bansod suffered a straight-game defeat against China’s Han Yue in the second round. Malvika lost 18-21, 15-21, bringing an end to India’s challenge in the category. Earlier, two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu had been eliminated in the opening round after losing to Vietnam’s Nguyen Thuy Linh.
Malvika had kept India’s hopes alive by defeating Chinese Taipei’s Pai Yu-po 21-18, 21-19 in the first round, but she was unable to progress further in the tournament.
In men’s singles, World Championships bronze medallist HS Prannoy registered a solid start, defeating Hong Kong, China’s Lee Cheuk Yiu 22-20, 21-18 in his first-round match. Meanwhile, India’s top men’s doubles pair of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy advanced to the second round after receiving a walkover against the USA’s Chen Zhi Yi and Presley Smith.
However, India endured a disappointing outing in the mixed doubles category, with all three Indian pairs crashing out in the first round. Ashith Surya and Amrutha Pramuthesh, Rohan Kapoor and Ruthvika Gadde, and Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto were all eliminated in their respective opening-round matches.