Macau Open: Srikanth leads Indian charge into second round

Macau: Star shuttler Kidambi Srikanth, along with compatriots Ayush Shetty and Tasnim Mir, advanced to the second round of the singles event at the Macau Open Super 300 badminton tournament on Wednesday.

In his first competition since recovering from an injury sustained in May, sixth seed Srikanth, a silver medallist at the 2021 World Championships, outclassed Israel’s Daniil Dubovenko 21-14, 21-15, while Ayush, the 2023 World Junior Championships bronze medallist, also had a strong start, defeating fellow Indian Alap Mishra 21-13, 21-5

in another men’s singles opening-round match.

Former world junior number one Tasnim Mir triumphed over Devika Sihag, winning 15-21, 21-18, 22-20 to also secure her spot in the next round of women’s singles.

The second round will feature an all-Indian matchup, with Srikanth set to face Ayush, who was a runner-up at the 2023 Odisha Masters. Tasnim will take on fourth seed Tomoka Miyazaki of Japan, the 2022 World junior champion.