BWF World Championships 2023: Kidambi Srikanth crashes out; Prannoy, Lakshya advance

The Indian mixed doubles pair of Rohan Kapoor and Sikki Reddy also bowed out from the opening round.

India’s top-ranked men’s singles players HS Prannoy and Lakshya Sen sailed through to Round of 32 of BWF World Championships 2023 after defeating Kalle Koljonen and Julien Paul in straight games respectively. However, Kidambi Srikanth crashed out, while the mixed doubles pair of Rohan Kapoor and Sikki Reddy also bowed out after a loss to Scottish pair Adam Hall/Julie Macpherson in three games (14-21, 22-20, 18-21).

Rohan and Sikki were the firm favourites to win the encounter but Adam Hall stood tall and applied good strokes throughout three games. The Scottish pair were off to a flier not allowing the Indians to settle and in the following game had a five-points advantage at the mid-game interval.

The Indian pair now applied the accelerator and played smart badminton making correct use of the smashes and deft touches near the net.

From 6-11, the scores were levelled at 15-15 and once again the Scottish pair won few quick points to surge ahead at 19-16. India from here scored six points out of the seven on offer; saving a match point at 19-20. Similar to the first two games, Hall and Macpherson went ahead at the mid-game interval (11-6) and continued to carry forward momentum till the end.

Later in the day, HS Prannoy wasn’t with a slow start, but after an initial hiccup he gradually picked up pace to outplay his opponent in straight games. Next up, the WR-9 will be against Dwi Wardoyo with both enjoying equal h2h (1-1). His compatriot Lakshya Sen occupied only 25 minutes on court, which is also one of the shortest matches in this edition of BWF World Championships.

Later in the day, Kidambi Srikanth bowed out after a straight game loss to Japan’s Kenta Nishimoto in the opening round itself.

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India’s Performance on Day 1 of BWF World Championships 2023

Men’s Singles Round of 64

Kidambi Srikanth lost to Kenta Nishimoto (14-21, 14-21)

HS Prannoy beat Kalle Koljonen (24-22, 21-10)

Lakshya Sen beat Georges Julien Paul (21-12, 21-7)

Mixed Doubles Round of 64

Rohan Kapoor/Sikki Reddy lost to Adam Hall/Julie Macpherson (14-21, 22-20, 18-21)

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