Osaka, Aug 31: Star Indian shuttler Kidambi Srikanth registered a stunning straight-game win over world number 4 Lee Zii Jia but Commonwealth Games champion Lakshya Sen suffered a shock defeat in the opening round of the Japan Open Super 750 tournament here on Wednesday.
Srikanth, a former world number 1, recovered from his early exit from last week’s World Championships, to outwit fifth seed Lee 22-20 23-21 in his men’s singles opener which lasted 37 minutes. It was his first win over the Malaysian in four meetings.
The 21-year-old Sen, a 2021 world championships bronze medallist, however, squandered an opening game advantage to go down 21-18 14-21 13-21 to world number 21 Japanese Kenta Nishimoto in his first match.
London Olympics bronze medallist Saina Nehwal was also no match for top seed Akane Yamaguchi as she lost 9-21 17-21 to the local favourite in 30 minutes.
Fast-rising men’s doubles pairing of MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila, who jumped nine places to reach world number 26 after a quarterfinal finish at the World Championships, also lost 21-19 21-23 15-21 to Korean combination of Choi Sol Gyu and Kim Won Ho.
In other results, Birmingham Commonwealth Games bronze medallists Gayatri Gopichand and Treesa Jolly lost 17-21 18-21 to seventh seeds Jongkolphan Kititharakul and Rawinda Prajongjai of Thailand in women’s doubles category.
The mixed doubles pair of Juhi Dewangan and Venkat Gaurav Prasad lost 11-21 10-21 to Chinese top seed Zheng Si Wei and Huang Ya Qiong in 23 minutes.
On Wednesday, Srikanth found himself in a similar position when he almost wasted a 15-11 advantage by allowing Lee to grab three game points but the Indian held on to his nerves to reel off five points on the trot to seal the opening game.
Stung by the opening game reversal, Lee showed a lot of purpose after the change of sides. He opened up a 2-0 lead early on and ensured a slender one-point advantage in the interval.
It seemed there would be another twist to the match as Lee this time saved two match points and earned himself a game point but Srikanth ensured there were no hiccups as he pocketed the required three points to shut the door on the Malaysian.
In the other singles, Lakshya was by far the better player in the opening game as he quickly ran up a 7-2 lead and jumped to 15-9 at one stage, before pocketing the game.
The Indian also made a good start to the second, opening up 8-4 lead but soon lost control as Nishimoto dished out a sensational fightback to win 9 of the next 10 points to roar back into the contest. Nishimoto dominated to keep moving ahead before eventually winning the decider.(PTI)
