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Kidambi Srikanth battled past Sameer Verma 18-21, 21-18, 21-11 in a clash of former champions as India's singles shuttlers opened their campaigns at the Swiss Open 2021 on Wednesday.
Ajay Jayaram and Sourabh Verma too progressed into the second round of the Super 300 event, but 2016 winner HS Prannoy's title hopes ended in the first round itself.
In men's doubles, second seeds Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty had to fight hard to make their way to the pre-quarterfinals of the Swiss Open.
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Srikanth had tasted glory at this Basel tournament in 2015, while Sameer Verma won the event in 2018. Their first-round face-off was expectedly supposed to be a blockbuster, and the two didn't disappoint.
Verma stormed out of the blocks, opening a 5-1 lead. Even though Srikanth made the game competitive, the world no. 27 was able to hold him off to take it 21-18.
A resilient Srikanth made a superb comeback to edge Verma in a thrilling second game before running away with the decider. The enthralling first-round contest lasted 61 minutes.
The fourth seed will now take on world no. 50 Thomas Rouxel as he looks to return to the Swiss Open quarterfinals.
Ajay Jayaram knocks out World No. 29 Sitthikom Thammasin at the Swiss Open
World no. 60 Ajay Jayaram caused a mini-upset, as he showed the door to the 29th-ranked Sitthikom Thammasin 21-12, 21-13 to set up a meeting with third seed Rasmus Gemke.
Meanwhile, three-time national champion Sourabh Verma beat local hope Christian Kirchmayr 21-19, 21-18. He has a tough challenge up next, as he faces the eighth seed and three-time junior world champion Kunlavut Vitidsarn.
In other matches, HS Prannoy put up a gritty fight but fell short against the 36th-ranked Mark Caljouw. The Dutchman took the marathon contest 21-19, 9-21, 21-17 in an hour and two minutes.
Satwik-Chirag pair needs three games to advance to Swiss Open 2nd round
A day after upsetting the second seeds in mixed doubles alongside Ashwini Ponnappa, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy got a win in men's doubles as well. However, this time he and his partner Chirag Shetty were made to work harder than expected.
The world no. 62 pair of Christopher Grimley and Matthew Grimley refused to be intimidated by the 10th-ranked Indian combine in an absorbing first-round affair. Reddy and Shetty took the first game 21-19 but saw their Scottish opponents force a third by taking the second game 21-18.
The 2019 Thailand Open champions then dug deep to secure the 21-19, 18-21, 21-16 win in an hour and nine minutes.
With the 2021 Swiss Open, the badminton qualification period for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics has resumed. The Indian challenge is being led by PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal, both of whom will be in action later on Wednesday night.
While Nehwal has been a two-time winner at the Swiss Open, Sindhu is seeking her first title at the prestigious tournament in Basel.
