Indonesia Masters: Kidambi Srikanth, Sourabh Verma crash out in opening round
Kidambi Srikanth went down to local favourite Shesar Hiren Rhustavito 21-18, 12-21, 14-21 in a match lasting one hour and three minutes.
Continuing his good run, shuttler Sourabh Verma stormed into the final of Syed Modi International badminton tournament here on Saturday.
The only Indian remaining in contention for the title, Verma registered a hard-fought 21-17, 16-21, 21-18 win over his Korean opponent Heo Kwang Hee in the semifinal.
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After winning the first set comfortably within just 20 minutes, the 26-year-old saw tough competition from Kwang Hee in the next before going down 16-21.
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Verma, who has won two Super 100 tournaments — Hyderabad Open and Vietnam Open — this year, made a fine comeback in the deciding game which he won 21-18. Verma will now face Wang Tzu Wei of Chinese Taipei in the final on Sunday. Tzu Wei thrashed Korea’s Son Wan Ho 21-9, 21-7 in the other semifinal clash.
Earlier, in the women’s singles semifinal, India’s Rituparna Das went down fighting against Thailand’s Phittayaporn Chaiwan 22-24, 15-21. Chaiwan will now take on Olympic champion Carolina Marin of Spain in the final on Sunday. Fourth seed Marin beat Korea’s Kim Ga Eun 22-20, 21-16.
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