Orleans Masters | Kidambi Srikanth, Saina Nehwal script easy victories
Kidambi Srikanth is the top-seeded player in the tournament
|Top-seeded Kidambi Srikanth and Saina Nehwal strolled past their opponents in the opening matches at the Orleans Masters Super 100 Tournament, in France. On the other hand, Kiran George had the better of his countryman and more fancied HS Pronnay in the men’s singles event.
After a relatively disappointing display in the 2021 All England Open last week, where only PV Sindhu made it to the semi-finals, the Indian shuttlers are now aiming high in the ongoing Orleans Masters Super 100 event. Even though most of the top-ranked players are not part of the meet, the Indians are expecting to bag ranking points on offer.
Kidambi Srikanth, the top-seeded player in the men’s singles event, was given a bye in the first round, while he breezed past countryman Ajay Jayram with scores of 21-15, 21-10, in a second-round match that lasted 25 minutes. The Indian will lock horns with Malaysia’s Cheam June Wei ranked 79 in the world, in the third round.
On the other hand, Saina Nehwal, who is yearning to log ranking points to make a fourth Olympics appearance later this year, also won her respective match against Ireland’s Rachel Darragh with scores of 21-9, 21-5, with the match lasting just 21 minutes. She will be up against France’s Marie Batomene in the second round. Meanwhile, HS Pronnay was eliminated by fellow Indian Kiran George in the men’s singles event.
