Welcome to Sportstar's live blog from the second day of the All England Open Badminton Championships.
What a day for India. Except for B. Sai Praneeth who lost his match to Long Angus, Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth were on the money from the word go.
Saina was beaten in the first game but came back strong to thwart all attempts from Line Kjaersfeldt while Kidambi Srikanth was clinical in the first and third games while a lapse of concentration might have done him in, in the second game.
The quarterfinals prove to be a humdinger and join us on Friday for two blockbuster clashes.
9.50 pm: Kidambi Srikanth will meet Kento Momota in the quarterfinals on Friday.
9.48 pm: What a win for Kidambi Srikanth. He decimates Indonesia's Jonatan Christie 21-17, 11-21, 21-12 and storms into the quarterfinals.
9.46pm: Match point for Srikanth at 20-11. He has been on the money from the word go in the game.
9.43 pm: Using the court well and dishing out cross-court winners, Srikanth moves to a 17-7 lead and looks all set to storm into the quarterfinals.
9.41 pm: A forehand winner by Srikanth and he holds the edge at 13-7.
9.41 pm: A service error from Jonatan Christie and Kidambi Srikanth leads 12-7.
9.38 pm: At the mid-game break in the third game, Kidambi Srikanth holds a healthy 11-4 lead over Jonatan Christie.
9.38 pm: Christie goes a smash, targeting Srikanth's forehand backcourt and it is out of reach for Indian. The Indonesian trails 4-9.
9.34 pm: Three points on the trot for Kidambi Srikanth and he storms to a 7-2 lead over Christie.
9.30 pm: At 4-2 in the third game, Kidambi Srikanth has the early lead. He needs to sustain the pressure and keep the gap wide open.
9.27 pm: Jonathan Christie wins the second game 21-11 and forces the decider against Kidambi Srikanth.
9.23 pm: At 17-9, it is the Indonesian, Christie, with the advantage.
9.21 pm: At 13-8, the lead is still with the Indonesian in the second game.
9.17 pm: At the mid-game interval in the second game, Jonatan Christie leads Kidambi Srikanth 11-6.
9.15 pm: Srikanth is crawling his way back into the match. He trails Christie 4-8.
9.12 pm: Srikanth is momentarily put on the backfoot. He trails Christie 1-6 in the second game.
9.08 pm: Kidambi Srikanth beats Jonatan Christie 21-17 in the first game.
9.06 pm: Srikanth is on song. He leads Christie 20-15 in the first game.
9.02 pm: Meanwhile, at 17-13 Srikanth is making merry over Christie.
8.57 pm: What a comeback from Saina Nehwal. She was outplayed in the first game but shows her determination and grit to emerge victorious at 8-21, 21-16, 21-13.
8.56 pm: At the mid-game interval, Kidambi Srikanth is enjoying at 11-7 lead i the first game.
8.55 pm: Srikanth is making heads turn. He races to a 9-6 lead in the first game over Christie.
8.54 pm: A terrific winner from Kjaersfeldt. She jumps, smashes to Saina backhand forecourt and draws to a 11-16 scoreline.
8.53 pm: Kidambi Srikanth is enjoying a 7-4 lead over Christie, in the adjacent court.
8.52 pm: Saina is enjoying a 15-9 lead in the decider. She is all set to advance in the Championship.
8.50 pm: Kidambi Srikanth takes the early lead over Christie. He has a 3-0 lead.
8.49 pm: At the mid-game break in the decider, Saina Nehwal has a 11-7 lead.
8.48 pm: Kjaersfeldt sends a body smash and Saina can only deflect it way outside the sideline. Kjaersfeldt trails 5-9.
8.46 pm: Saina has been accurate with her shots, something that she has learnt after the first game loss. She races to a 8-3 lead.
8.45 pm: Meanwhile, we have former World No. 1 Kidambi Srikanth on court. He is warming up with Indonesia's Jonatan Christie.
8.44 pm: And as we read that, she gets a 5-1 lead with a thunderous winner.
8.43 pm: Saina Nehwal races to a 4-1 lead in the third game, in quick time.
8.40 pm: What a comeback from Saina Nehwal. She nails it with timed winners, expert placements and races to a 21-16 win in the second game.
8.38 pm: Saina dishes a forehand smash in style to get a game pint at 20-15.
8.37 pm: A monstrous cross-court winner and Saina has a four-point cushion at 18-14.
8.36 pm: A misjudgement at the baseline costs Saina a point. She leads 16-14.
8.35 pm: Kjaersfeldt goes long, at the baseline, and Saina has a 15-12 lead.
8.33 pm: A couple of unforced errors, going long and finding the net, by Kjaersfeldt gives Saina a 13-11 lead.
8.32 pm: A cross-court winner brings Saina Nehwal on level terms again, at 11-all.
8.30 pm: At the mid-game break, it is Kjaersfeldt with the lead again, at 11-9. She has bounced back from a 4-7 scoreline.
8.28 pm: Well, it is parity again at 8-all. The Dane is looking too good for the Indian today, unfortunately.
8.25 pm: Saina Nehwal seems to have found her feet, finally. She has a 7-4 lead in the second game and would hope to sustain it.
8.23 pm: The second game in underway. It is 4-all as Saina tries hard to stay alive in the competition.
8.19 pm: The Dane has completely outplayed the Indian. She wins the first game 21-8. The Indian had no answers to Kjaersfeldt's questions!
8.15 pm: The gap between the players is now opening up as Kjaersfeldt is well ahead, in the driving seat, with a 14-7 lead in the first game.
8.13 pm: Kjaersfeldt doesn't let the intensity come down and at the mid-game break, she holds a healthy 11-5 lead.
8.12 pm: Saina pulls one back. She trails 5-9 and has a lot of catching up to do.
8.12 pm: Five points now. The Dane is now on song. She holds a healthy 9-4 lead.
8.11 pm: Kjaersfeldt wins four points in a row to race to a 8-4 lead.
8.10 pm: After the initial trade of points and trying to understand the game plans, it is 4-4.
8.07 pm: Kjaersfeldt with the early lead at 2-0. Saina just needs that little time to get into the groove.
8.02 pm: We have India's Saina Nehwal on court, warming up. She is up against Denmark's Line Kjaersfeldt.
With the International Women's Day round the corner, Saina Nehwal wants to celebrate in the best way possible.
7.10 pm: India's hopes now rest on Kidambi Srikanth and Saina Nehwal. The duo will play their respective matches in sometime.
7.02 pm: It is curtains for Sai Praneeth. He loses the second game 21-17 after losing the first 21-12.
7.01 pm: Match point for Hong Kong's Long Angus at 20-16.
6.59 pm: Praneeth tries to crawl back but is undone as he commits too many unforced errors. Long is leaving no stone unturned to take all opportunities to dish out winners at will. At 19-15, Praneeth is staring at an ouster from the Championship.
6.56 pm: At 15-12, it is the Hong Kong's Long Angus with the advantage.
6.55 pm: Praneeth finally finds his feet back. He uses the depth of the courts well to dish out winners and crawl to a 11-13 scoreline.
6.52 pm: A plethora of unforced errors has done Praneeth in. He trails 6-11 at the mid-game interval in the second game.
6.49 pm: At 7-5, Praneeth is left to catch up with his opponenet.
6.45 pm: At 3-2, it is Praneeth with the early lead again.
6.42 pm: We are on to the second game. It is a must-win for Sai Praneeth, in his ambitions of staying in the Championship. The head-to-head is all square at 2-all in four meetings.
6.41 pm: What a come back from Hong Kong's Long Angus. He wins the first game 21-12, after trailing at 4-8 at one stage. He lifted his game up with eight points on the trot at one stage.
6.40 pm: At 19-12, it is Long Angus with the advantage in the first game.
6.38 pm: Eight consecutive points for Hong Kong's Long Angus. The Indian is left stunned and searching for answers as Long races to a 16-11 lead in the first game. Praneeth, at one stage, was leading 8-4.
6.36 pm: At the mid-game break, Long takes the slender lead at 11-10.
6.35 pm: The Hong Kong player restores parity at 10-all.
6.34 pm: Long ups the ante and reduces the arrears. He is now 9-10, trailing Praneeth.
6.30 pm: Praneeth takes the early lead, wins 4 consecutive points to go 8-4 up in the first game.
6.20 pm: Sai Praneeth and Long Angus have made their way to the courts and they are warming up.
While we wait for Sai Praneeth's match to begin, let us watch what Saina Nehwal has to say.
Here is how the first day of the Championship was for India.
While Sameer Verma, H.S. Prannoy, P.V. Sindu and the doubles players bit the dust, Kidambi Srikanth, B. Sai Praneeth and Saina Nehwal progressed to the second round and will be in action on Thursday.
The biggest upset of the day was Sindhu. She played well in patches, saved nine match points, but in the end, it wasn't just enough. If you had missed the match, you can read the report here .
Day One results:
Saina Nehwal bt Kirsty Gilmour 21-17, 21-18
Kidambi Srikanth bt Brice Leverdez 21-13, 21-11
Sameer Verma lost to Viktor Axelsen 16-21, 21-18, 21-14
B. Sai Praneeth beats H.S. Prannoy 21-19, 21-19.
Poorvisha Ram/Meghana Jakkampudi lost to Ekaterina Bolotova/Alina Davletova 18-21, 21-12, 21-12.
Sung Ji-Hyun beats P.V. Sindhu 21-16, 20-22, 21-18.
Shiho Tanaka and Koharu Yonemoto beat Ashwini Ponnappa and N. Sikki Reddy 21-16, 26-28, 16-21.
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