Ace Indian shuttler Kidambi Srikanth on Wednesday outclassed England’s Toby Penty in straight games to enter the Denmark Open second round here and likened his return to international badminton after a coronavirus-forced hiatus to “an adventure”.
The former world number one, who had claimed four Super Series titles in 2017, beat Toby 21-12, 21-18 in 37 minutes, as the sport finally got going after a seven-month-long break.
“I started off well, but he was good in the second game. I’m playing after a long time. It’s like an adventure. This situation is something new. I’ve never been away for this long, and I’m happy with the way it went,” he told BWF.
The fifth seed will next face Canada’s Jason Anthony Ho-Shue, who defeated India’s Subhankar Dey 21-13, 21-8 in a lop-sided contest.
Former world No 13 Ajay Jayaram also couldn’t cross the opening hurdle, going down 12-21, 14-21 to world No 3 Anders Antonsen of Denmark in 37 minutes. Srikanth and Lakshya Sen are now the only surviving Indians in the competition.
Lakshya has already reached the second round with a straight game win over Christo Popov on Tuesday. He will face Hans-Kristian Solberg Vittinghus of Denmark in the next round.
Srikanth said it will take some time for him to find his best, given the circumstances.
“The last time I played was at the All England where I lost in the first round, so I’ve not had much of match practice. But I think I’m slowly getting back,” said the world No 14 Indian.
“It will definitely take some time, as there are no tournaments after this one. There will be a pause in the season, so it might take time to get used to match feeling.”
