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Shuttlers PV Sindhu, Kidambi Srikanth make impressive starts at Bangkok
Updated On: 20 January, 2021 07:40 AM IST | Bangkok | PTI
"In the second game my ankle was hurting a bit. I was not mentally prepared for this tournament. I was down during the interval of the second game, and my coach told me to just focus on playing my own style," Sameer said.
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PV Sindhu. Pic/AFP
PV Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth notched up straight-game wins, while Sameer Verma shocked world no 10 Lee Zii Jia as Indian shuttlers made impressive starts at the Toyota Thailand Open Super 1000 tournament here on Tuesday. A week after being sent packing by Denmark`s Mia Blichfeldt in the first event of the Asia leg, world champion Sindhu showed great discipline and focus to see off world no 12 Busanan 21-17 21-13 in the women`s singles opener. In men`s singles, former world no 1 Srikanth, who had withdrawn ahead of the second round last week due to a calf muscle pull, seemed to have recovered completely as he decimated another Thai player Sitthikom Thammasin 21-11 21-11 in 37 minutes. But the highlight of the day was the lion-hearted performance by world no 31 Sameer, who stunned eighth seed Lee 18-21 27-25 21-19 in a thrilling opening match.
"In the second game my ankle was hurting a bit. I was not mentally prepared for this tournament. I was down during the interval of the second game, and my coach told me to just focus on playing my own style," Sameer said. "It was all about my mind. I think this will give me confidence for the rest of the tournament," he added. Olympic hopeful Saina Nehwal, however, bowed out after losing 17-21 8-21 to former world champion and home favourite Ratchanok Inthanon in a lop-sided contest. Saurabh Verma, brother of Sameer, was also knocked out, going down 16-21 11-21 to fifth seed Anthony Ginting of Indonesia, while Parupalli Kashyap retired at 0-3 against Denmark`s Rasmus Gemke. The men`s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty pulled off a hard fought 22-20 28-26 win over compatriots Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy in the opening round clash. In the mixed doubles event, Satwik paired with Ashwini Ponnappa to dispatch the Danish duo of Niclas Nohr and Amalie Magelund 23-21 21-18 in 40 minutes to enter the second round. The win against Busanan took Sindhu`s head-to-head count against the Thai to 11-1. The only time the Indian lost to the Thai player was at the Hong Kong Open in 2019.
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