Sourabh qualifies for main draw

Hong Kong, Nov. 12: Indian shuttler Sourabh Verma entered the men’s singles main draw of the Hong Kong Open after clinching straight-game wins in his two qualifying clashes here on Tuesday. Sourabh, seeded fourth in the qualifiers, first defeated Thailand’s Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk 21-15, 2119 before getting the better of Lucas Claerbout of France 21-19, 21-19 in the final qualifying round.

In the mixed doubles, the Indian pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Ashwini Ponnappa rallied from a game down to beat the Thailand duo of Nipitphon Phuangphuapet and Savitree Amitrapai 16-21, 21-19, 21-17 in a 55minute match and advance to the second round.

But in another mixed doubles first round match, the Indian duo of Pranaav Jerry Chopra and N Sikki Reddy lost 10-21, 18-21 to the third seeded Thai pair of Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Sapsiree Taerattanachai to bow out of the tournament.

The other Indians featuring in the men’s singles main event will start on Wednesday.

World No.10 Kidambi Srikanth, B. Sai Praneeth, Sameer Verma, H.S. Prannoy and Parupalli Kashyap are those in fray in the competition.

While World No.1 Kento

● Shuttler Sourabh Verma made it to the main draw of the Hong Kong Open after winning both his qualifying matches in straight games.

● World No.1 Kento Momota unexpectedly withdrew, leaving first first round opponent Kidambi Srikanth to advance in the tournament.

Momota unexpectedly withdrew without playing a match — leaving Indian challenger Kidambi Srikanth to advance to the second round, Sourabh’s brother, Sameer will be up against Tzu Wei Wanf of Taipei.

B. Sai Praneeth too has a tough opening round encounter against third seed Shi Yu Qi of China, while Prannoy and Kashyap will take on China’s Huang Yu Xiang and Kenta Nishimoto of Japan.

Meanwhile, badminton’s Hong Kong Open started despite fresh pro-democracy protests across the financial hub with a number of the city’s players qualifying for the main draw to delight their home fans.