Bali: Kidambi Srikanth of India lost in straight games to Thailand’s Kunlavut Vitidsarn in his second Group B match here on Thursday, jeopardising his hopes of making it to the knockout round of the BWF World Tour Finals.
In a 46-minute men’s singles match, world number 14 Srikanth, who had reached the knockout stage in the 2014 edition of the year-ending tournament, lost 18-21 7-21 against three-time junior world champion Vitidsarn.
Earlier in the day, Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy lost their second consecutive match in the tournament, losing 19-21 20-22 against Bulgaria’s Gabriela Stoeva and Stefani Stoeva to leave the contention.
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, the top men’s doubles combo, gave top ranked Indonesian duo Marcus Fernaldi Gideon and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo a walkover when the former complained of knee discomfort.
The pair has decided not to participate in the event any longer. Srikanth had previously lost to Vitidsarn in the Sudirman Cup in September and the Asia Team Championships the previous year.
In their last Group B encounter, the Indian combination will play England’s Chloe Birch and Lauren Smith. Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, the top men’s doubles combo, gave top ranked Indonesian duo Marcus Fernaldi Gideon and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo a walkover when the former complained of knee discomfort.
The pair has decided not to participate in the event any longer. Srikanth had previously lost to Vitidsarn in the Sudirman Cup in September and the Asia Team Championships the previous year.
In Group B, Malaysian second seed Lee Zii Jia leads with two points, while Srikanth and Vitidsarn are tied for second with one point apiece after one win and one defeat. In his third encounter, Srikanth will play Lee Zii Jia, while Vitidsarn will face France’s Toma Junior Popov.
Lakshya Sen, the youngest Indian to qualify for the year-ending event, advanced to the semifinals on Wednesday after his opponent Kento Momota withdrew due to a back injury and Denmark’s Rasmus Gemke, who is also in Group A, had to forfeit his match against compatriot Viktor Axelsen due to a knee injury.
Lakshya and Axelsen are expected to qualify from the group after both Momota and Gemke withdrew.
