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Srikanth, Kashyap, Saina make winning start at Malaysian Open

Kidambi Srikanth, Parupalli Kashyap and Saina Nehwal make winning start at the Malaysian Open

Kidambi Srikanth brushed aside Ka Long Angus

Kuala Lumpur, January 16: Kidambi Srikanth and Parupalli Kashyap scored contrasting wins to enter the pre-quarterfinals of the Malaysian Open here on Wednesday (January 16).

Srikanth was in his elements during a smooth 21-17, 21-11 win over NG Ka Long Angus while Kashyap needed every ounce of his energy to beat Rasmus Gemke 19-21, 21-19, 21-10.

In the next round, Srikanth will face Wing Ki Vincent and Kashyap will be up against Anthony Ginting. Earlier, Saina Nehwal defeated Deng Joy Xuan of Hong Kong 14-21, 21-18, 21-18. Saina will play yet another Hong Kong player Yip Pui Yin in the round of 16 on Thursday.

World No 8 Srikanth endured a below-par 2018 where he topped the BWF ranking for a brief period and also claimed the Commonwealth Games silver but failed to win a single title, following an unprecedented high of 2017. Though he couldn't produce the goods in the international circuit, Srikanth managed to keep a clean slate in the just-concluded Premier Badminton League (PBL) where he anchored his team to a title win on Sunday (January 13).

Saina, on the other hand, has been one of the top achievers in 2018, claiming a second gold in the CWG and securing bronze at the Asian Games and Asian Championship. She also reached the finals at Indonesia Masters, Denmark Open and Syed Modi International.

The 28-year-old from Hyderabad, who recently married fellow shuttler P Kashyap, will also face a Hong Kong player in Deng Joy Xuan in her women's singles first round. B Sai Praneeth, meanwhile, has decided to give the tournament a miss after featuring in the PBL for Bengaluru Raptors.

Commonwealth Games silver medallists Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty will look for a positive start too when they face China's Ou Xuanyi and Ren Xiangyu. In women's doubles, CWG bronze medallists Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy will meet Hong Kong's Ng Tsz Yau and Yuen Sin Ying, while the mixed doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Ashwini Ponnappa square off against English pair of Ben Lane and Jessica Pugh.

Story first published: Wednesday, January 16, 2019, 17:12 [IST]
Other articles published on Jan 16, 2019