Kidambi Srikanth’s hopes of making a comeback have been dashed in the Syed Modi International 2023. The former World No.1 suffered a shock first round exit in the BWF Super 300 tournament on Wednesday, 29th November.
The sixth seeded Indian lost to unseeded Lee Chia-hao of Chinese Taipei in straight games. The final scores read 21-23, 8-21 as the loss extends Srikanth’s horrendous form in the BWF Tour. With the loss, the 30-year old has now suffered four straight first round losses in the tour. Overall he has faced first round exits in 10 tournaments this year.
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His last win at the BWF World Tour came at the Arctic Open Super 500 in Finland, where he lost in second round. Srikanth’s poor form made him drop to World No.24 in the rankings.
Srikanth did not even reach the semifinal in any of the tournament this year. He managed to reach the quarterfinal in Spain Masters, Malaysia Masters, Indonesia Open and Australia Open in 2023.
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Unnati Hooda, Priyanshu Rajawat & Kiran George advance
In Men’s Singles, Kiran George and Priyanshu Rajawat advanced to the pre-quarterfinal stage. Kiran George faced compatriot Chirag Sen and clinched a hard-fought 21-16, 14-21, 21-13 win. Priyanshu Rajawat meanwhile sailed past Kazakhstan’s Dmitriy Panarin 21-17, 21-19.
Earlier in the day, Unnati Hooda beat compatriot and WR-38 Aakarshi Kashyap in three games 15-21, 21-19, 21-18. Anupama Upadhyaya also booked spot in the pre-quarterfinal. She clinched a come-from-behind 14-21, 21-15, 210-9 win.
Meanwhile, Mithun Manjunath and Sameer Verma bowed out from the first round. In the Women’s singles too Malvika Bansod faced a defeat against Japan’s Noxomi Okuhara.
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