German Open 2022: PV Sindhu crash out, Srikanth moves into quarterfinals
The Indian badminton contingent had a mixed outing with one shuttler moving into the quarterfinals of the Super 300 German Open played at Westenergie Sporthalle, Mulhelm on Thursday.
PV Sindhu lost to lower-ranked Chinese player Zhang Yi Man
in three games. It was a disappointing start by the Indian who struggled as
Zhang made it 5-5. The Chinese took 6 successive points to take an 11-5 lead at
interval. After the break, Sindhu tried her best but lost the first game at
14-21.
It was a much better start by Sindhu in the second game
putting pressure on the Chinese. After being 10-6 up, Zhang leveled scores at
10-10. The Indian went into mid-game break with an 11-10 lead. After the interval,
Sindhu showed intent to keep pressure on the opposition and won the second easily
to force the game into a decider.
Zhang played with intent in the deciding game keeping the
pressure on Sindhu. At the mid-game interval, the Chinese player took an 11-8
lead. After the mid-game break, Zhang did not give Indian any chances into the match
and won the decider easily by 21-14 to knock out the fancied opponent.
Saina Nehwal was no match as she lost to Ratchnok Intanon of
Thailand in two straight games. It was a one-sided affair as the Indian never
looked in the game losing it 10-21, 15-21.
Kidambi Srikanth defeated Lu Guang Zu in a three-game thriller
that lasted for one hour and seven minutes. It was a perfect start for the
Indian as he took a commanding 8-3 lead initially. Lu made a strong comeback
with a flurry of points before Srikanth had a slender 11-10 lead. Both players
fought for each point till 14-14. Srikanth took 4 points in succession to seal
the first game easily.
The Indian looked out of sorts initially as the Chinese took
a decent lead at the mid-game interval. After the break, Srikanth made a strong
comeback to take a 15-11 advantage. Lu fought for each point and eventually sealed
the second game after saving a match point. The Chinese won the second game by
23-21.
In the deciding game, Srikanth put enough pressure on the Chinese
to take a 10-5 lead. Lu fought back strongly to take 6 points in succession going
into the break with a slender 1 point advantage. After the break, the Chinese grabbed
the chances with a 15-14 lead. The Indian then showed fight and character to seal
points in succession winning the decider by 21-18 to move into the
quarterfinals. He will take on Victor Axelson of Denmark.
HS Prannoy also made it into the quarterfinals with a straight-game win over Lee Chik Yu of Hong Kong. It was a good performance by the
Indian as Lee gave a tough fight in both games, but Prannoy held his nerves to
win the first game with a 21-19 scoreline.
Despite Lee having the lead in the second game, Prannoy
showed great fight and skills to win the second game by 24-22. Lakshya Sen stunned the fourth-seeded Anthony Ginting in two straight games by 21-7, 21-9 to move into the quarterfinals. He will take on HS Prannoy.
In an all-Indian men’s doubles match, KP Garaga and Panjala
defeated I Bhatnagar and Sai Prateek in a three-game thriller. The first game was closely fought but Garaga and Panjala held their nerves winning it by 23-21.
Bhatnagar and Prathek showed great fight winning the second
game easily by 21-16. The decider saw Garaga and Panjala play with intent to
knock out their opponents with a scoreline of 21-14. They will face the winner of
He JT and Zhou H D versus F Alfian and Ardianto of Indonesia.
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