Defending champion Kidambi Srikanth beat compatriot Lakhanee Sarang in a tight encounter to reach the second round of the Syed Modi Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament in Lucknow on Wednesday. Seeded third, Srikanth dug deep to beat Lakhanee 15-21, 21-7, 21-14 in his opening match. He will face Malaysia’s Zulhelmi Zulkiffli in round two.
Among other Indians in the singles draw, HS Prannoy, B Sai Praneeth also reached the second round. The 2016 Swiss Open winner Prannoy beat NVS Vijetha 21-11, 21-9. Ninth seed Praneeth beat Aditya Joshi 21-14 21-9.
In women’s singles, Polish Open winner Rituparna Das thrashed Nepal’s Nangsal Tamang 21-5, 21-6 and will take on eighth seeded Russian Ksenia Polikarpova next. In men’s doubles, India’s Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy had a tough time to get past Singapore’s Yong Kai Terry Hee and Kean Hean Loh as they beat them 15-21, 25-23, 21-14 in a thriller.
In women’s doubles, Indian pair of Ashwini Ponnappa and Sikki Reddy reached the second round as well.