Sameer goes down fighting to world No. 2 Shi Yuqi

Kuala Lumpur, April 2

Sameer Verma put up a great effort before going down in the opening round clash against world No. 2 Chinese Shi Yuqi in the Malaysia Open.

The 24-year-old from Madhya Pradesh, who had lost to Shi Yuqi in the semifinals of the World Tour Finals in December last year, suffered a heart-breaking 20-22 23-21 12-21 loss in a 65-minute clash. Pranaav Jerry Chopra and N Sikki Reddy, however, made a good start to their campaign, eking out a 22-20 24-22 win over Ireland’s Sam Magee and Chloe Magee in the mixed doubles. Unfortunately, Sikki Reddy could not replicate the success in the women’s doubles as she, along with her partner Ashwini Ponnappa, went down fighting 20-22 21-17 20-22 to the South Korean duo of Baek Ha Na and Kim Hye Rin. 

The men’s singles match was a close battle till 8-8 before Verma fell back to 11-16. But he fought back to make it 20-20 before being edged out by Shi Yuqi in the opening game. The second game was no different as the Indian was lagging 11-16, but this time, he clawed back at 20-20 and managed to win it despite the Chinese grabbing one match point. Verma reeled off three points to take the match to the decider.

In the third game, Shi Yuqi jumped to a 9-0 lead and didn’t allow the Indian to fight back. — PTI