Thailand Open: Former world number one Indian shuttler Kidambi Srikanth bows out in qualifiers

In the first round of qualifiers, the world championships silver medallist ousted Sankar Subramanian 21-15, 21-17 but lost in the second against Tharun Mannepalli 21-15, 21-17.

In his last eight outings, Srikanth, ranked 71st in the men's singles, has managed just one appearance in the quarter-finals, highlighting his turbulent phase. Last year, he made just one semi-final appearance after competing in 14 tournaments.

Tharun, ranked 53rd, was the only Indian to advance past the qualifiers. He will continue India's challenge in the main draw, which kicks off on Wednesday. Before outwitting Srikanth, Tharun defeated Chinese Taipei's Kuo Kuan Lin 17-21, 21-19, 21-17 in the closely contested opener.

Ayush Shetty, who stormed into the semi-finals of the Taipei Open Super 300 last week, opened his account with a dominant 21-10, 21-11 victory against Finland's Joakim Oldorff. However, in his second fixture in the qualifiers, the 20-year-old bowed out of the tournament following a 21-14, 22-20 defeat against Malaysia's Justin Hoh. Sathish Karunakaran's campaign also came to a bitter end after a 17-21, 21-12, 21-12 loss to Malaysia's Aidil Sholeh.

In the women's singles category, Ira Sharma staged a flawless comeback to defeat Myanmar's Thet Hthar Htuzar 18-21, 21-8, 21-12 in her opener. However, she could not carry her winning momentum against Thailand's Thamonwan Nithiittikrai and lost by 21-12, 21-18 in the second.

India's only mixed doubles pair in the qualifiers, Mohit Jaglan and Lakshita Jaglan, crashed out of the tournament with a defeat against Chan Yin Chak and NG Tsz Yau of Hong Kong China 21-8, 21-10.

On Wednesday, Lakshya Sen, the Paris 2024 Olympics men's singles semi-finalist, world number 10 women's doubles duo Gayatri Gopichand and Treesa Jolly and the rising sensation Unnati Hooda will take the court. (ANI)