Orleans Masters Day 2: Kidambi Srikanth and Saina Nehwal move into the next round
The top Indian shuttlers Kidambi Srikanth and Saina Nehwal
moved into the next round of the Super 100 Orleans Masters played at Paris on Wednesday.
Kidambi Srikanth had no problems defeating Chem June Wei of Malaysia in two straight games. The Indian started
the opening game on an aggressive note putting the pressure back on Malaysian.
At the mid-game interval, Srikanth led 11-9. After the break, the Malaysian
made a strong comeback by leveling the scores. The Indian played aggressive
badminton and won the first game easily at 21-17.
It was a closely fought second game that went down right
down the wire. Both players fought for each point before the Indian held his
nerves to win the 2nd game at 22-20 to move into the quarterfinals. He will take on T Popov of France.
Chirag Sen went down fighting to higher-ranked Hans Kristian
Vittingihus in three games. It was even a contest at the start of the game with
both players taking alternate points. Sen showed some aggression and took a
11-8 lead at the interval. After the break, the youngster played with attacking
style winning the first game by 21-14.
The second game saw the experienced Danish showed his domination
and won it easily at 21-9 to force the game into a decider. In the decider,
Vittinghus dominated right from the word go keeping the pressure on the Indian
and took a good lead at the interval. After the break, the Indian fought
strongly but lost momentum to lose the third game at 17-21 to be knocked out.
Kiran George played its heart out before losing to experienced
Brice Leverdez of France in three gruelling games. The French showed his aggression and won the first game easily at 21-15.
The second game saw the French dominating the Indian taking
an early 10-6 lead. Kiran took 5 points in succession to take a slender 11-10
lead. After the interval, the Indian showed his aggression to win the second
game at 21-14. Leverdez showed his domination in the third game also taking a
commanding 11-6 lead. After the break, the French almost won before George took
points in succession to level the scores at 19-19. Leverdez held his nerves to
win the third game at 21-19 to move into the quarterfinals.
Saina Nehwal fought back strongly from one game down to move
into the quarterfinals. She defeated Marie Batomeme of France in three
grueling games. The first game was a see-saw affair as both players fought for
each point. Marie took a slender 11-10 lead at the interval. After the break,
the match went down right down the wire before the French won the first game at
21-18.
The pre-qualifier Ira Sharma defeated Mitsova of Bulgaria in
two straight games. It was a dominating by the youngster who played with
aggression winning it 21-18, 21-13 to move into the quarterfinals. She will
take on Christophen of Denmark.
The men’s doubles pair of Dhruv Kapila and Arjun MR cruised
to a two games victory over R Easton and Z Russ of England. It was a dominating
performance by the young Indian pair winning by 21-11, 21-12 to move into the
quarterfinals. They will take on C Hemming and S Stallwood of England.
Krishna Prasad Garaga and VVG Panjala defeated Kramer and
Rindshoj of Denmark in two straight games by 21-7, 21-13 to move into the quarterfinals.
They will take on the Popov brothers.
After getting a bye in the second round, Ashwini Ponnappa
and Sikki Reddy will take on C Birch and L Smith during the quarterfinals.
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