French Open Badminton: Saina Nehwal, Kidambi Srikanth move into second round 

It was a great day for Indian shuttlers as Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth moved into the second round of the Super 750 level tournament played at Paris on Wednesday.

Kidambi Srikanth defeated Wong Wing Ki Vincent in straight games, 21-19, 21-13, in 42 minutes to move into the second round. The first game was a closely-fought game with Srikanth playing well, taking an 11-7 lead. After the interval, Wong K showed great fight to reduce the gap. Both players earned alternate points till 19-19. The Indian held his nerves, winning the first game 21-19.

The second game was a much more dominating performance by Srikanth who played with control and aggression. At the interval, the Indian led 11-6. After the interval, Kidambi continued his aggressive performance, winning the second game 21-13 to move into the 2nd round. He will face Lee-d K of Korea.

Sai Praneeth had an easy outing, defeating Y Coelho of Brazil in straight games, 21-13, 21-17 to move into the second round. He will take on Jonatan Christie.

Sameer Verma lost to Christie in three games. The Indian won the first game 21-16 before Jonatan won the next two games, 21-17, 21-15 to knock the Indian out of competition.

Saina Nehwal continued her impressive form with a straight-game 21-11, 21-11 win over Kawakami to move into the second round. She will face Japanese Okuhara in the second round.

Doubles impress

Men’s doubles pair of Sumeeth Reddy and Manu Attri eased past their opponents, Kang M-h and Kim W-h, 21-18, 21-17 to move into the second round. They will face Liu C and Zhang C in the second round.

The young pairing of Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty won the first round match, defeating the German pair of Jansen and Zurwone, 21-13, 21-15, to move into the second round. They will take on the Chinese pair of He JT and Tan Q.

Young women’s pair of Jakkampudi and PS Ram defeated the pair of Jacques and Vandenhoucke 21-12, 21-12 to move into the second round. They will take on G Polli and Rahayu in the second round.

The mixed doubles pair of Rankireddy and Ashwini Ponnappa lost to G and C Adcock in three gruelling games. C Adcock and G Adcock won a thrilling first game 24-22. The Indian pair came back strongly to win the second game 21-18. C Adcock and G Adcock held their nerves to win the third game 21-19 to move into the second round.

R Kapoor and K Garg lost to Zheng SW and Huang YQ 5-21, 10-21 in a completely one-sided match.