Former World No. 1 Kidambi Srikanth will be keen to keep the Indian Tricolor flying high at the Hylo Open in Saarbrucken, Germany, when he begins his campaign at the Super 300 event. He will be up against World No. 21 Lu Guang Zu on Wednesday, November 2.
Srikanth is now one of two Indians left in the men's singles draw, with the other being Sameer Verma. Earlier on Tuesday, seventh seed Lakshya Sen was shown the door 12-21, 5-21 in the first round by NG Ka Long Angus. HS Prannoy then withdrew right before his first-round match on Wednesday.
Kidambi Srikanth vs Lu Guang Zu: Head-to-head & prediction
World No. 11 Srikanth has a flawless 3-0 head-to-head record against Lu Guang Zu, having won all of their meetings so far. Their most recent showdown was at the German Open in March this year, where the Indian needed three games to edge Guang Zu 21-16, 21-23, 21-18.
Srikanth has struggled to find his form since his bronze-medal finish at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in August. He has exited before before the quarterfinals in each of the four events he has played following his Birmingham heroics.
The Pullela Gopichand protégé enters the Hylo Open on the back of a tight 21-19, 12-21, 19-21 defeat to Rasmus Gemke in the Round of 16 at last week's French Open. He will look to push aside that setback and focus on a deeper run in Saarbrucken this week.
Guang Zu, meanwhile, has been pretty consistent this season, as evident from the fact that he has reached six quarterfinals or better. His latest last-eight finish was at last week's French Open and he will be eager to build on it.
Needless to say, Srikanth has a tough job on his hands and needs to be at his absolute best in the upcoming contest.
Kidambi Srikanth vs Lu Guang Zu: Date and time
Kidambi Srikanth will take on Lu Guang Zu in the men's singles first-round match at the Hylo Open 2022 on Wednesday.
Date: November 2, 2022.
Time: Yet to be announced.
Kidambi Srikanth vs Lu Guang Zu: Where to watch & live streaming details
The Hylo Open 2022 will be broadcast live in India on Sports18 1 and Sports18 1 HD channels only from November 5. Hence, there will be no live telecast of this match on Indian television.
Live streaming is available on YouTube on BWF.TV in selected territories. Live scores can also be followed on the tournament software here.