M Ratnakar [TOI]
NEW DELHI: Kidambi Srikanth upset sixth seed Jonatan Christie of Indonesia 12-21, 21-18, 21-16 while Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto trounced the American pair of Francesca Corbett and Allison Lee 21-13, 21-16 in the first round of the Malaysian Open BWF Super-1000 tournament in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday.
However, the men’s pair of MR Arjun-Dhruv Kapila and Aakarshi Kashyap crashed out of the event.
Arjun-Dhruv lost to Fang-Chih Lee and Fang-Jen Lee of Chinese Taipei 16-21, 19-21 in a hard-fought contest. Zhang Yi Man of China defeated Aakarshi 15-21, 15-21.
World No. 24 Srikanth bounced back from 14-17 in the second game after losing the first. In the decider too, Christie opened a 5-0 lead and led 14-9 at one stage. However, Srikanth came up with a seven-point burst and from 16-15, scored four straight points to seize control.
In the second round, Srikanth will face world No. 20 Ng Ka Long Angus of Hong Kong.
Ashwini and Tanisha, who are No.14 in the Olympic qualifying race and much ahead of Treesa Jollya and Gayatri Gopichand, registered an important victory. The duo next face seventh seeds Mayu Matsumoto and Wakana Nagahara. The Japanese pair defeated India’s Rutuparna Panda and Swetaparna Panda 21-12, 21-11 in the first round.
Results (Rd I)
Men’s singles: Kidambi Srikanth bt Jonatan Christie (Ina) 12-21, 21-18, 21-16.
Doubles: Fang-Chih Lee/FangJen Lee (Tpe) bt MR Arjun/Dhruv Kapila 21-16, 21-19.
Women’s singles: Zhang Yi Man (Chn) bt Aakarshi Kashyap 21-15, 21-15.
Doubles: Ashwini Ponnappa/Tanisha Crasto bt Francesca Corbett/Allison Lee (USA) 21-13, 21-16; Mayu Matsumoto/Wakana Nagahara (Jpn) bt Rutuparna Panda/Swetaparna Panda 21-12, 21-11.