Star Indian shuttler Kidambi Srikanth started his campaign on a bright note with a straight-game win over fellow compatriot Sankar Subramanian as he, along with a host of other youngsters, progressed to the second round of the Taipei Open Super 300 Badminton Tournament on Wednesday.
World No. 61 Srikanth, who is battling an extended lean patch, dispatched Subramanian, a 2022 world junior championships silver medallist, 21-16 21-15, to enter the second round.
The 32-year-old, a silver-medallist at the 2021 World Championships, will face another Indian, Ayush Shetty, a 2023 World Junior Championships bronze medallist.
Ayush, who reached the semifinals of the Orleans Masters, beat third seed Lee Chia Hao of Chinese Taipei 21-17 21-18 in 50 minutes.
A 2023 National Games gold-medallist, Tharun Mannepalli produced a gritty show, outwitting Japan’s Shogo Ogawa 21-17 19-21 21-12 in a 70-minute clash to set up a clash with Indonesia's Mohammad Zaki Ubaidillah.
Meiraba Luwang Maisnam, however, went down 21-23 12-21 to Canada's Brian Yang.
In women's singles, Unnati Hooda, winner of two Super 100 titles–2022 Odisha Masters and 2023 Abu Dhabi Masters–beat fellow national Anupama Upadhyaya 21-13 21-17 to also reach the second round. She will face Chinese Taipei’s Lin Sih Yun next.
Aakarshi Kashyap, however, faltered in the opening match, going down 9-21 12-21 to Chinese Taipei’s Hung Yi-Ting in a one-sided contest.
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