Korea Open: PV Sindhu Qualifies for Round Two, Kidambi Srikanth Beats Daren Liew

Their spectacular straight game wins have pushed the pair to the pre-quarterfinals of the Korea Open Super 500 badminton tournament.

P.V Sindhu Pulls Her Guard up Despite a Break in the Momentum

P.V Sindhu called the shots early on into the game and established an 11-6 lead in the first interval. She fumbled after the break enabling her opponent to reduce the margin to 16-13. However, the two-time Olympic medalist pulled herself back to deliver a strong finish. After the second set started, the American did not allow the 2017 Korea Open champion to score.

She couldn't stretch her lead further than a point by the mid-game break and her struggle continued till 15-14. Right after, Sindhu made a recovery and secured six straight points to clinch a game that lasts 34 minutes. The world number seven will now face Japan’s Aya Ohori at the second round of the BWF Super 500 event.

Kidambi Srikanth Delivers an Unexpected Performance

Shortly after, we saw former world number one Kidambi Srikanth tackle Malaysian shuttler, Daren Liew, and secure a 22-20, 21-11 win in a match that took 40 minutes to conclude. Their head-to-head count was 0-3 in favor of the Malaysianwhich put immense pressure on Srikanth. As expected, he was walking on slippery grounds in the first set and was three points behind after the interval. However, he accelerated the 15-18 on the scoreboard and grabbed one match point.

The final score read 22-20 as Srikanth bagged the first set. The fifth seed retained his form in the second game with a 4-0 lead which later morphed into a 7-8 lag. Yet he won eight consecutive points thereafter to send his opponent home after the victory. He will now encounter Israel’s Misha Zilberman in the second round.

Other Indians in the Tournament

World Championships bronze medalist Lakshya Sen and fast-rising Malvika Bansod walked into Round Two with three-game wins. Meanwhile, Indian men’s doubles pair M.R. Arjun/Dhruv Kapila advanced to the second round due to a walkover after South Korea’s Ba Da Kim/ Hee Young Park pulled out. Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty also pulled through after beating Korea's Tae Yang Shin/Wang Chan 21-16, 21-15.

Satwik and Chirag will encounter Singapore's Hee Yong Kai Terry and Loh Kean Hean. Arjun and Dhruv are about to take on the second-seeded Indonesian pair of Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan next. Unfortunately, Sri Krishna Priya Kudaravalli exited the tournament after losing 5-21, 13-21 to second-seeded Korean An Seyoung in the women's singles event. In addition, HS Pranmoy bowed out of the tournament after losing to a much lower-ranked player, Malaysia's Cheam June Wei 17-21 7-21 in a match that lasted 41 minutes.