Satwik Continues to Shine, Sikki/Ashwini Also in Rd 2, Saina Loses Tough Match

Day 2 of the Swiss Open 2021, provided a mixed bag of events as some stellar performances were accompanied by some difficult loses as well. Kidambi Srikanth started off proceedings against countryman Sameer Verma on court number 3, and the see-saw battle went the distance as Srikanth came back from behind to win 18-21 21-18 21-11 in an hour and a minute of intense battle. Sameer began really well to win the opening game, but Srikanth forced his way back in the second, and carried the momentum into the third.

Sameer’s brother Sourabh, however, had no difficulty disposing off home-favorite Christian Kirchmayr in straight games 21-19 21-18; and Ajay Jayaram also had a comprehensive win against Sitthikom Thammasin 21-12 21-13 to secure his place in the second round. 

Meanwhile, HS Pranoy, Lakshya Sen and Parupalli Kashyap couldn’t get past the opening round. Even as B Sai Praneeth easily overcome Misha Zilberman late in the day to progress into the next round.

In women’s singles, PV Sindhu sealed her second-round spot with a 21-16 21-19 win over Neslihan Yigit of Turkey while Saina Nehwal suffered a bitter loss against Phittayaporn Chaiwan of Thailand. Saina lost the opening game but came back to level things in the second, before losing a hard-fought third game. The encounter lasted almost an hour with Saina eventually losing 21-16 17-21 23-21. 

Satwik Sairaj combined with Chirag Shetty to register his second win of the tournament in as many days. Satwik/Chirag had to fight hard against promising Scottish pair Christopher Grimley/Matthew Grimley, who gave the experienced Indian pair a good run in the opening round encounter of men’s doubles. MR Arjun/Dhruv Kapila were the other Indians in the men’s doubles draw but had a difficult match-up against the veteran Russian pair – Vladimir Ivanov/Ivan Suzonov. The Russian pair beat the Indians 21-16 21-18. 

In women’s doubles action, Sikki Reddy/Ashwini Ponnappa were off the blocks in a flash and took the opening game in just 11 minutes against their German opponents Annabelle Jaeger/Stine Kuspert. But the challengers did comeback with a strong comeback in the second game, but the experienced Indian pair held on to their lead and took the match in straight games 21-5 21-19 to move into the second round.