Syed Modi badminton | Srikanth, Prannoy ease through the opening round

It took Kidambi Srikanth 31 minutes to wrap up his opening round match at the Syed Modi India International 2025 here on Wednesday as the former World No. 1 continued on the tough road back to the top.

H.S. Prannoy, who has failed to go past the second round through this year, crossed the first hurdle with ease in his 37-minute 21-15, 21-10 win against Shashwat Dalal and the two veterans of Indian badminton proved they still had it in them, despite all the injuries over the past year, to keep the next generation at bay.

Srikanth, currently 38th, had little trouble against compatriot Kavin Thangam in his 21-13, 21-10 victory that saw him set up a second-round match against Saneeth Dayanand. With a mix of drop shots and soft volleys with the occasional smash, Srikanth relied more on his experience and skills than raw power, which his opponent had a lot of but without enough control to make it count.

Priyanshu Rajawat overcame Meiraba Maisnam 21-18, 21-14 while Kiran George breezed past Israel’s Daniil Dubovenko 21-17, 21-9.

In women’s draw, former world champion Nozomi Okuhara survived a scare against qualifier Adita Rao to win 22-20, 21-14. Adita raced to a 9-1 lead in the opening game with an attacking play that caught a jittery Nozomi by surprise. At 15-6, an upset was on the cards but that was before Nozomi shifted gears.

She gradually pushed back, mixing her shots and using the sidelines brilliantly to gain crucial points but Adita still had three game points at 20-17. But Nozomi reeled off five straight points to take the game against all odds and even as she fed off the confidence from it, Adita appeared deflated and never recovered.

World Junior Championship runner-up Tanvi Sharma continued her impressive run to overcome Ashmita Chaliha 21-15, 21-19.

Key results (Indians unless stated): Men: Singles: Kidambi Srikanth bt Kavin Thangam 21-13, 21-10; Jia Heng Jason Teh (Sgp) bt R.S. Sathish Kumar 21-19, 21-17; Kiran George bt Daniil Dubovenko (Isr) 21-17, 21-9; H.S. Prannoy bt Shashwat Dalal 21-15, 21-10; Women: Singles: Unnati Hooda bt Aakarshi Kashyap 21-13, 21-18; Hina Akeshi (Jpn) bt Anmol Kharb 21-8, 21-10; Tanvi Sharma bt Ashmita Chaliha 21-15, 21-19; Nozomi Okuhara (Jpn) bt Adita Rao 22-20, 21-14; Shuo Yun Sung (Tpe) bt Ishika Jaiswal (USA) 21-16, 17-21, 21-17.