Malaysia open: Srikanth fends off familiar foe Christie

Kuala Lumpur, January 9

India’s Kidambi Srikanth progressed to the second round of the Malaysia Open Super 1000 with a come-from-behind win over world No. 5 Indonesian Jonatan Christie here today.

The 30-year-old, who has been going through a lean phase for quite some time, notched up a stunning 12-21 21-18 21-16 win over sixth seed Christie in an opening-round match that lasted an hour and five minutes.

The former world No. 1 will face Hong Kong’s NG Ka Long Angus next.

A 2021 World Championships silver medallist, Srikanth has often struggled to sustain the pressure in a three-game match to make a number of early exits but he looked in fine fettle today as he kept attacking despite losing the opening game.

Srikanth always had some tough battles against the Indonesian, whom he had defeated six times in 11 meetings.

The women’s doubles pair of Tanisha Castro and Ashwini Ponnappa advanced to the second round after beating USA’s Francesca Corbett and Allison Lee 21-13 21-16 in the opening round.

The Indian pair takes on the seventh-seeded Japanese duo of Mayu Matsumoto and Wakana Nagahara in the next round.

In the women’s singles, Aakarshi Kashyap lost to Zhang Yi Man of China 15-21 15-21 in the opening round. The men’s doubles pair of MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila also lost their opening-round match 16-21 19-21 to the Chinese Taipei pair of Fang-Chih Lee and Fang-Jen Lee.