India’s badminton star Kidambi Srikanth made a strong start to his Macau Open campaign on Wednesday, defeating Israel’s Daniil Dubovenko in straight sets, 21-14, 21-15, in the men’s singles first round.
The mixed doubles pair of Sumeeth Reddy and Sikky Reddy also secured a victory, overcoming the Malaysian duo of Loo Bing Kun and Ho Lo Ee in a thrilling three-setter, 24-22, 10-21, 21-13. The Indian pair displayed resilience and tactical prowess to secure the win.
However, the mixed doubles duo of Rohan Kumar and Ruthvika Shivani put up a valiant effort but ultimately fell short against the Thai pair of Ruttanapak Oupthong and Jhenicha Sudjaipraparat, losing 23-21, 24-22.
In the women’s singles, India faced mixed fortunes. Tanya Hemath was defeated by Liang Ting Yu of Taiwan in straight sets, 18-21, 19-21. Anupama Upadhyaya fought hard but lost to Japan’s Riko Gunji 12-21, 22-20, 7-21.
In another men’s singles round of 32 match, Mithun Manjunath was defeated by Huang Yu Kai of Taiwan, 12-21, 15-21. Meanwhile, Ayush Shetty emerged victorious over fellow Indian Alap Mishra in a straight-sets win, 21-13, 21-5.
With the first round concluded, Indian players will now look to continue their strong performances in the upcoming rounds of the Macau Open.
