Kidambi Srikanth withdrew out of Thailand Open on Tuesday, the day of the kickoff of the 2018 edition of the tournament in Bangkok.
“Not good news as I had to withdraw from Thailand Open. I will be playing World Championships next," Srikanth wrote in his twitter handle. Srikanth’s previous tournament was Indonesia Open, where despite being the defending champion, he suffered an opening-round exit.
Srikanth won the first game before Japan's Kento Momota defeated him 21-12, 14-21, 15-21. It was Srikanth’s second loss to the same opponent in less than two weeks; Momota knocked out Srikanth from the semi-final of Malaysia Open 2018.
Both the players used up all their energy and the match on Wednesday finished exactly in an hour. While the Indian came into the tournament all fresh, having got enough rest between Malaysia and Indonesia, Momota looked drained after his Malaysian Open final loss to Lee Chong Wei last Sunday, which went on for an hour and 11 minutes.
Targeting Momota’s tiredness, Srikanth had a flying start. While Momota had tapes on both his legs, Srikanth executed excellent cross and net play and took a lead of 11-7 in the first game before he sealed it 21-12.
Into the second game, the Japanese had an upper hand as he clinched a 3-0 lead but Srikanth fought back to make it 4-4. However, in the second game, Srikanth made several net errors as well as mistimed many shuttlers too.
Overall, it was Srikanth's seventh loss to Momota, who has been in impressive form since coming back from a one-year ban due to illegal gambling.
Meanwhile, in Thialand Open, starting Tuesday, in the men’s singles category, India have Sameer Verma and Parupalli Kashyap, who has recently recovered from a stress fracture on his shin.
Sameer will lock horns with Thailand's Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk in the opening round while Kashyap will face China's top seed Shi Yuqi.
Among other shuttlers, P.V. Sindhu will open her campaign against Bulgaria's Linda Zetchiri in women's singles event, while Saina Nehwal will take on Thailand's Busanan Ongbamrungphan.
