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It was a disappointing day for Indian shuttlers as Kidambi Srikanth was the only player to progress into quarter finals stage of Japan Open Super Series 750 level tournament played at Tokyo on Thursday, while PV Sindhu and HS Prannoy lost their respective matches in straight sets.
In the men’s singles, Kidambi Srikanth played with aggression, defeating Wong K of Hong Kong in straight games. Wong K began the first game on a positive note with a 5-3 lead. After that, K Srikanth made a strong comeback to take points in succession. At the interval, the Indian led 11-6. After the interval, Wong reduced the gap to 10-11, but Srikanth won the first set 21-15.
The second game was a dominating performance by Srikanth, who made life tough for Wong K. At the interval, the Indian led 11-5. After the interval, he continued to dominate, and won the second set 21-14 finishing the match in 36 minutes to move into the quarter finals. He will face Korean Lee D-k.
HS Prannoy had to face disappointment as he lost to Indonesian player Ginting in straight games 14-21,17-21. In both games, Ginting dominated the game and didn't allow Prannoy to play his natural game.
The biggest disappointment of the day was that the World Championship silver medallist PV Sindhu lost to Gao J F in two straight games. In the first game, the Chinese player started on an aggressive note, taking a commanding 8-2 lead. At the interval, Gao led 11-8. After the interval, PV Sindhu made a strong comeback to level the scores at 13-13. Both players fought for each point till 17-17, but Gao held her nerves and won first set 21-18.
Sindhu got off to a great start in the second game, taking a 5-0 lead. She could not maintain her focus as Gao played with aggression, and from 3-7 down, the Chinese took points in succession to take 11-7 lead at the interval.
After the interval, Sindhu committed lots of mistakes. From 15-20 down, she saved 4 match points before Gao took the second game 21-19 to move into the quarter finals.
Manu Attri and Sumeeth lose out in three sets
The Indian pair of Manu Attri and Sumeeth Reddy lost out to Chinese pair of He JT and Tan Q in three games. The Chinese pair won a close fought game 21-18, before Attri and Reddy won the second set 21-16. In the deciding set, the Chinese pair dominated the Indians, winning 21-12 to move into the quarter finals.
