Kidambi Srikanth, HS Prannoy Enter Second Round of Indonesia Open

Indian shuttlers Kidambi Srikanth and HS Prannoy advanced to the second round of the men's singles competition at the USD 1,000,000 Indonesia Super Series Premier on Wednesday. The world No. 29 Prannoy saw off 20th ranked Anthony Sinisuka Ginting 21-13 21-18 in a 43-minute battle. He will next face top-seeded Malaysian Lee Chong Wei. Srikanth then staved off a challenge from Hong Kong's Wong Wing Ki Vincent 21-15 17-21 21-16 in a 56-minute match. He is likely to clash with fourth-seeded Jan O Jorgensen of Denmark next.

After back-to-back titles at Singapore and Thailand, B Sai Praneeth bowed out in the opening round following a 14-21 18-21 loss against second-seeded Son Wan Ho of Korea in 40 minutes.

The men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty also suffered a 9-21 19-21 loss against Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto. It was also curtains for Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy after the duo suffered a 21-19 19-21 13-21 loss to the Indonesia combo of Dian Fitriani and Nadya Melati.

Coming into the match with a 1-2 head-to-head record, Srikanth made sure he left after levelling their score. The Indian dished out a gritty game as he fought hard from the start, before breaking off at 7-7 in the opening game to eventually earn the bragging rights.

In the second, Wong opened up a 7-3 lead and kept his distance despite some tough competition from Srikanth, who had narrowed down the deficit to 16-18. But Wong sealed the game and roared back into the contest.

In the decider, Srikanth fought back from 6-8 and 11-13 down to reel off six straight points at 14-14 to eventually comfortably seal the match in his favour.