Hong Kong Open 2019: Kidambi Srikanth qualifies, others crash out

It was a disappointing day for Indian shuttlers as only Kidambi Srikanth made it to the quarterfinals of Super 500 Hong Kong Open played on Thursday. 

In the men’s singles, HS Prannoy lost to 2018 Asian Gold medallist, Jonathan Christie in two straight sets - 12-21, 19-21. In the first game, Prannoy could not give a fight to the Indonesian and lost by a massive gap. It was a close fought match in the second game, but the Indian committed lot of errors and lost the match. 

Parupali Kashyap went down fighting to Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei in three sets by 21-12, 21-23, 10-21 to be knocked out in the second round. Kashyap played brilliant badminton and won the first set easily. It was a very close fight in the second game as both players took alternate points but this time, Chou won the second set by 23-21 to force match into decider.

In the decider, Chou did not give a chance to the Indian and won easily to move into the quarterfinals. 

Kidambi Srikanth defeated Indian counterpart Sourabh Verma in three sets by 21-11, 15-21, 21-19 to move into the quarterfinals. In the first game, Srikanth played aggressive badminton and did not allow Sourabh a chance to win. Sourabh made a strong comeback in the second game and won it easily to force match into decider. 

The third game went from one side to another before, Srikanth won it by 21-19. He will take on Chen Long. 

PV Sindhu's poor form continued as she lost to Thai player, Busnan Ongbamrunghpan in three sets - 18-21, 21-11, 16-21. Since winning the World Championship, Sindhu has not been able to go beyond the third round in the events she has participated so far. She won the first-round match against Kim Ga Eun of South Korea. 

With this loss, India’s challenge in the women’s singles ended as Saina Nehwal lost in the first round to Cai Yan Yan in straight sets. 

The mixed doubles pair of Ashwini Ponnappa and Satwiksairaj RankiReddy lost to fourth seeded Japanese pair of Yuki Watanabe and Arisa Higinasho of Japan in two straight sets by 19-21, 12-21.

Sai Praneeth, Sameer Verma, Saina Nehwal all lost in their first-round matches. Kidambi Srikanth got a bye in the first round as Kento Momota did not take part.