India's star shuttler Kidambi Srikanth faltered in the first round of the India Open Super 750 tournament, as he suffered a straight-set defeat to Hong Kong's Lee Cheuk Yiu, continuing his dismal form. The match, lasting 47 minutes, showcased Srikanth's brilliance in some shots, but was marred by a series of unforced errors, leading to a 22-24, 13-21 loss to the world no. 18, Lee.
Srikanth started strongly in the first game, demonstrating excellent strokes from the back court and initially leading the play. However, Lee closely trailed and gradually regained his form. Following a closely contested game tied at 17-17, Lee gained momentum to secure three game points.
Srikanth fought back to level the score at 20-20 and even took a slight lead, but a misjudged shot and Lee's precise drop shot concluded the game in Lee's favor.
Despite a promising performance in the first game, Srikanth trailed significantly at 2-11 after the interval. He managed to reduce the deficit to 6-12, but the early gap proved too substantial to overcome, resulting in his exit from the tournament.
"I know I have been making unforced errors for sometimes and I am working on it," said Srikanth after the match.
"I don't play safe, that's my game. I try to earn points. Hopefully, things will be better in next few tournaments. Parupalli (Kashyap) has a few things on his mind, so lets see. If I win a few tournaments, I will qualify for Olympics. I am not thinking about it as I just don't want to qualify only, I want to be a medal contender too," he added.
Previously, the world No. 20 duo of Tanisha Crasto and Ashwini Ponnappa, who clinched victory at the Guwahati Masters Super 100 in December, faced a challenging defeat in their women's doubles opening match. They were narrowly defeated by the world No. 10 Thai team of Jongkolphan Kititharakul and Rawinda Prajongjai, with the scores being 5-21, 21-18, 11-21.
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