Kiran George joined the list of Indian youngsters who are causing major upsets in top tournaments. George, who made the grade through qualifiers, stunned third seed and former All England champion Shi Yu Qi of China in straight games 21-18, 22-20 at the Thailand Open BWF Super-500 event in Bangkok on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, PV Sindhu suffered an unexpected reversal against Michelle Li of Canada 8-21, 21-18, 18-21. The world No.13 Indian, who enjoys a 9-2 win-loss record against Li, fought back from a 5-12 deficit in the decider before losing at 18-21.
On a day when many of his compatriots were shown the door in the first round, George, who trains at the Prakash Padukone Academy, took 47 minutes to oust the former silver medallist at the World Championships.
The 23-year-old won the Odisha Open and Polish Open last year and is regarded as one of the promising shuttlers who could lead the Indian challenge in future.
The Kerala shuttler will face Weng Hong Yang of China in the second round. Hong Yang, who lost to HS Prannoy in the Malaysia Masters, ousted Kidambi Srikanth 21-8, 16-21, 21-14 in the first round.
Though Srikanth managed to take the second game, Hong Yang dominated him in the third. He started with a 7-1 lead and was well ahead of Srikanth throughout the decider.
Meanwhile, PV Sindhu suffered an unexpected reversal against Michelle Li of Canada 8-21, 21-18, 18-21. The world No.13 Indian, who enjoys a 9-2 win-loss record against Li, fought back from a 5-12 deficit in the decider before losing at 18-21.
On a day when many of his compatriots were shown the door in the first round, George, who trains at the Prakash Padukone Academy, took 47 minutes to oust the former silver medallist at the World Championships.
The 23-year-old won the Odisha Open and Polish Open last year and is regarded as one of the promising shuttlers who could lead the Indian challenge in future.
The Kerala shuttler will face Weng Hong Yang of China in the second round. Hong Yang, who lost to HS Prannoy in the Malaysia Masters, ousted Kidambi Srikanth 21-8, 16-21, 21-14 in the first round.
Though Srikanth managed to take the second game, Hong Yang dominated him in the third. He started with a 7-1 lead and was well ahead of Srikanth throughout the decider.
Lakshya Sen battled past Wang Tzu Wei of Chinese Taipei 21-23, 21-15, 21-15 in the first round. Seasoned campaigner Saina Nehwal, who entered the circuit after a two-month gap, registered a straight game victory against qualifier Wen Yu Zhang of Canada 21-13, 21-7.
Saina will face the winner of the match between He Bing Jiao of China and Putri Kusuma Wardani of Indonesia. Men’s doubles top seeds Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty worked hard for about an hour to beat Rasmus Kjaer and Frederik Sogaard of Denmark 21-13, 18-21, 21-17.
