Indonesia Masters badminton: Kidambi Srikanth advances to second round

India’s Kidambi Srikanth fought his way through to the second round of the men’s singles event at the Indonesia Masters 2021 badminton in Bali on Wednesday.

Former world No. 1 Kidambi Srikanth beat Frenchman Christo Popov 21-18, 15-21, 21-16 in an hour and 15-minute long encounter.

The Indian badminton player will face a sterner test in the second round as he will take on the Asian Games and Thomas Cup champion Jonatan Christie of Indonesia.

In the mixed doubles, the Indian pair of Dhruv Kapila and N Sikki Reddy pulled off an upset as they beat second seeds and home favourites Praveen Jordan and Melati Oktavianti 21-11, 22-20.

The impressive Indian team played some aggressive badminton to wrap up the victory in just 30 minutes and will next face the pair of Supak Jomkoh and Supissara Paewsampran of Thailand in the next round.

Meanwhile, the 2014 Commonwealth Games champion Parupalli Kashyap bowed out of the Indonesia Masters.

Parupalli Kashyap, the husband of Olympic medallist Saina Nehwal, lost to Dane veteran Hans-Kristian Solberg Vittinghus 21-10, 21-19.

World championships bronze-medallist B Sai Praneeth was also knocked out after losing to Indonesia's Shesar Hiren Rhustavito in three games.

Indian results on Day 2 of Indonesia Masters 2021

Men’s singles

Kidambi Srikanth beat Christo Popov 21-18, 15-21, 21-16

HS Prannoy beat Daren Liew 22-20, 21-19

Parupalli Kashyap lost to Hans-Kristin Solberg Vittinghus 10-21, 19-21

B Sai Praneeth lost to Shesar Hiren Rhustavito 21-16, 14-21, 20-22

Men’s doubles

MR Arjun/Dhruv Kapila lost to Takuro Hoki/Yugo Kobayashi 17-21, 12-21

Mixed doubles

Dhruv Kapila/N Sikki Reddy beat Praveen Jordan/Melati Oktavianti 21-11, 22-20

B Sumeeth Reddy/Ashwini Ponnappa lost to Hafiz Faizal/Gloria Widjaja 15-21, 16-21

Venkat Prasad/Juhi Dewangi lost to Chang Tak Ching/Ng Wing Yung 15-21, 12-21