It was a disappointing day as all the four Indian shuttlers crashed out in the first round of Super 300 Thailand Open played at Bangkok on Wednesday.
Kidambi Srikanth lost to Hiren Rhustatvito of Indonesia in three sets by 21-12, 14-21, 11-21 to be knocked out in the first round. Srikanth has struggled so far losing in first rounds of Malaysia Masters and Indonesia Masters. With this loss, the Indian chances of qualifying for the Tokyo Olympics have hit a big dent.
In other men’s singles match, Sameer Verma lost to Lee Zii Jia of Malaysia in two straight sets by 16-21, 15-21 to be knocked out in the first round. Verma was outplayed by the Malaysian opponent and never gave resistance.
HS Prannoy lost to Daren Liew of Malaysia in three sets by 17-21, 22-20, 19-21 to be knocked out in the first round. It was a dominating display by Liew in the first set who played with aggression and made life tough for the Indian.
In the 2nd game also, Liew had a great start but Prannoy showed great fighting spirit to take an 11-10 lead at the interval. After the interval, both players fought for each point till 20-20. The Indian held his nerves to win the 2nd set 22-20 to force the match into a decider.
In the decider, Liew and Prannoy fought for each point from the right word go. As one player looked good for a lead, the other player came back strongly to level the score. Liew held his nerves to win the third game at 21-19.
Saina Nehwal also suffered a shocking loss to Line Kjaersfeldt of Denmark in three gruelling games by 13-21, 21-17, 15-21 to be knocked out in the first round. In the first game, the Denmark player looked in great control putting pressure on the Indian. At the interval, Line led 11-6. After the interval, Denmark showed her domination and won the first game easily at 21-13.
In the 2nd game also, Denmark had a great start with attacking badminton. At the interval, Line led 11-7. After the interval, Saina made a strong comeback to level the scores and continued till 15-15. The Indian took points in succession to win the 2nd set at 21-17 to force the match into a decider.
It was a close-fought affair initially in the 3rd and deciding game till 9-9. The Denmark player had an 11-9 lead at the interval. After the interval, Saina equalled the score at 12-12. From there, Line showed her class and won points in succession to win the third set at 21-15 to knock the Indian out.
With this loss, Saina hopes of qualifying for the Tokyo have hit a major dent. It was a disappointing performance by the Indian shuttlers.
