Kidambi Srikanth comes from behind to maneuver into second spherical

Former world No. 1 Kidambi Srikanth was the star of the opening day of the 2024 Malaysia Open when the Indian beat fifth seed Jonatan Christie from Indonesia 12-21 21-18 21-16 in a come-from-behind win on Tuesday.

The ladies’s doubles pair of Tanisha Castro and Ashwini Ponnappa have been the one different Indians to advance to the second spherical after a 21-13 21-16 win over the American pair of Francesca Corbette and Allison Lee.

They’ll now face seventh seeded Japanese duo of Mayu Matsumoto and Wakana Nagahara, who had overwhelmed the sister duo of Rutaparna and Swetaparna Panda within the opening spherical. In ladies’s singles, Aakarshi Kashyap, who entered the event by means of the qualifiers, was knocked out within the first spherical by Zhang Yi Man of China 15-21 15-21.

The lads’s doubles pair of MR Arjun and Dhruva Kapila additionally misplaced their opening spherical match 16-21, 19-21 to the Chinese language Taipei pair of Fang-Chih Lee and Fang-Jen Lee.

Srikanth stands tall

The 30-year-old showcased a few of his earlier brilliance within the 65-minute match in the way in which he recovered from trailing within the second and third video games particularly.

The top-to-head file favoured the Indian in 11 conferences towards the Indonesian with six wins. However the begin for Srikanth didn’t replicate that as he trailed 4-7 within the opening sport. Though he ended up getting a one-point lead at 8-7, Christie blew him away by profitable 9 straight factors to take the primary sport 21-12.

The Indian started the second sport properly, taking a 4-0 lead however the fifth seed had the benefit 11-7 on the break. It was after this that Srikanth started taking management of the sport, regardless of trailing at 14-17, the Indian received seven of the subsequent eight factors to stage the match at 1-game all.

The Indonesian took cost within the deciding sport, transferring from 5-0 to 14-9, however Srikanth modified up his sport plan that had Christie committing a number of unforced errors. A seven-point profitable streak from Srikanth turned the tables on the Indonesian, clinching the match in three video games. The Indian will face Hong Kong’s NG Ka Lengthy Angus within the second spherical.