French Open 2022 badminton: Kidambi Srikanth out; Chirag-Satwik in quarter-finals

Indian badminton player Kidambi Srikanth squandered a lead against Denmark’s Rasmus Gemke to exit the French Open 2022 BWF Super 750 tournament in the second round of the men’s singles event on Thursday.

Kidambi Srikanth, a former world No. 1 currently 11th in the badminton rankings, lost the contest 21-19, 12-21, 19-21 in one hour and 15 minutes.

The Indian shuttler, who beat compatriot Lakshya Sen in the opening round, made a slow start but showed impeccable character to overturn a 16-10 deficit and win the first game to set the tone. The second game, in sharp contrast, saw undeniable dominance by the Dane, who won it comfortably to force a decider.

With everything to play for in game three, Srikanth came out swinging and held a 14-11 lead at a point. But a flurry of six points from the Dane completely turned the game on its head.

This was Gemke’s first-ever win against Kidambi Srikanth on the BWF stage. The Indian had come out on the top at the 2018 China Open - the only time the two shuttlers had met before this.

The Indian men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, meanwhile, moved into the quarter-finals with a comprehensive 21-16, 21-14 win over Man Wei Chong and Kai Wun Tee.

The Indian duo will now face former world champions and top seeds Takuro Hoki and Yugo Kobayashi of Japan for a spot in the semi-finals.

Sameer Verma, who upset Tokyo 2020 bronze medallist Anthony Sinisuka Ginting in the opening round, however, couldn’t pull off a repeat performance against world No. 10 Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand and lost his match 21-18, 21-11.

HS Prannoy, currently tops the BWF World Tour Finals 2022 rankings, also crashed out after losing to China’s Lu Guang 19-21, 22-20, 19-21.