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Start of the 2019 circuit with 2 super 500 tournaments in South East Asia.

First week in Malaysia this week has limited Indian participation as Premier badminton league only ended on Sunday. There will be bigger participation next week in Indonesia.

Still, a good start for us today.

At Perodua Malaysia Master 2019, Kuala lumpur

[R1] (Q) PARUPALLI Kashyap (IND,45) d. Rasmus GEMKE (DEN,20) 19-21 21-19 21-10
[R1] (7) KIDAMBI Srikanth (IND,8) d. NG Ka Long Angus (HKG,14) 21-17 21-11

[R1] (7) Saina NEHWAL (IND,9) d. DENG Joy Xuan (HKG,37) 14-21 21-18 21-18

[R1] Ashwini PONNAPPA / REDDY N. Sikki (IND,22) d. YUEN Sin Ying / NG Tsz Yau (HKG,32) 21-16 22-20

[R1] Pranaav Jerry CHOPRA / REDDY N. Sikki (IND,23) l. Selena PIEK / Robin TABELING (NED,271) 19-21 17-21

4 out of 5 wins today. Very good wins by Kashyap and also wife Saina immediately after returning to court after their marriage.

At Perodua Malaysia Master 2019, Kuala lumpur

[R1] (Q) PARUPALLI Kashyap (IND,45) vs. (6) Anthony Sinisuka GINTING (INA,6)
[R1] (7) KIDAMBI Srikanth (IND,8) vs. WONG Wing Ki Vincent (HKG,38)

[R1] (7) Saina NEHWAL (IND,9) vs. YIP Pui Yin (HKG,34)

[R1] Ashwini PONNAPPA / REDDY N. Sikki (IND,22) vs. Ni Ketut Mahadewi ISTARANI / Rizki Amelia PRADIPTA (INA,76)

Srikanth and Saina are thru to the Quarter finals.

At Perodua Malaysia Master 2019, Kuala lumpur

[R2] (Q) Parupalli Kashyap (IND,45) l. (6) Anthony Sinisuka Ginting (INA,6) 17-21 23-25
[R2] (7) Kidambi Srikanth (IND,8) d. Wing Ki Vincent Wong (HKG,38) 23-21 8-21 21-18

[R2] (7) Saina Nehwal (IND,9) d. Pui Yin Yip (HKG,34) 21-14 21-16

[R2] Ashwini Ponnappa (IND)/ N. Sikki Reddy (IND) l.Ni Ketut Mahadewi Istarani (INA)/ Rizki Amelia Pradipta (INA) 18-21 17-21

Tough matches next up.

Next,

[QF] (7) Kidambi Srikanth (IND,8) vs (4) Wan Ho Son (KOR,5) - Head to head 5-4 to the Korean

[QF] (7) Saina Nehwal (IND,9) vs (2) Nozomi Okuhara (JPN,2) - Head to head 8-4 for Saina

Saina beat Nozomi again.

Srikanth continues his very poor streak against top 8 players and loses to the Korean. I think he probably has 1 win in the last 15 against top 8 players.

Full results -

[QF] (7) Kidambi Srikanth (IND,8) l. (4) Wan Ho Son (KOR,5) 23-21 16-21 17-21

[QF] (7) Saina Nehwal (IND,9) d. (2) Nozomi Okuhara (JPN,2) 21-18 23-21

Sin Hombre wrote: ↑Fri Jan 18, 2019 12:45 pm .Srikanth continues his very poor streak against top 8 players and loses to the Korean. I think he probably has 1 win in the last 15 against top 8 players.

Yes, due to that losing streak, he has virtually hit a QF roadblock in last few tournaments. In last few tournaments, he has been losing at the QF stage consistently. He is beating those ranked below him but losing to those ranked above him.

Saina is showing much improvement improvement though in her results since last 6 months.

Next,

[SF] (7) Saina Nehwal (IND,9) vs (4) Carolina Marin (ESP,6)

Marin proved too strong for Saina.

[SF] (7) Saina Nehwal (IND,9) l. (4) Carolina Marin (ESP,6) 16-21 13-21

Not a shame losing to a player who is a top 3 level player despite her lower ranking. Saina is again showing that she can still beat top 5 player and reach deep at such high level tournaments.

This week Sindhu, Sai Praneeth and Manu-Sumit have entered the fray in Indonesia but it seems Sameer Verma, Prannoy and Satwik-Chirag (1 of them) are all injured.

These are first round results -

At DAIHATSU Indonesia Masters 2019

[R1] (8) KIDAMBI Srikanth (IND,8) d. CHONG Wei Feng (MAS,44) 21-12 21-8
[R1] (7) PARUPALLI Kashyap (IND,42) l. Anthony Sinisuka GINTING (INA,7) 12-21 16-21
[R1] SAI PRANEETH B. (IND,22) l. (4) CHEN Long (CHN,5) 12-21 16-21
[R1] Subhankar DEY (IND,49) l. Viktor AXELSEN (DEN,6) 14-21 21-19 15-21

[R1] (8) Saina NEHWAL (IND,9) d. Dinar Dyah AYUSTINE (INA,50) 7-21 21-16 21-11
[R1] (2) PUSARLA V. Sindhu (IND,3) d. LI Xuerui (CHN,26) 22-24 21-8 21-17

[R1] ATTRI Manu / REDDY B. Sumeeth (IND,27) d. Niclas NOHR / Mads Pieler KOLDING (DEN.404)

[R1] REDDY N. Sikki / Ashwini PONNAPPA (IND,22) l. (8) Jongkolphan KITITHARAKUL / Rawinda PRAJONGJAI (THA,8) 14-21 14-21

[R1] REDDY N. Sikki / Pranaav Jerry CHOPRA (IND,24) l. (4) Tontowi AHMAD / Liliyana NATSIR (INA,4) 15-21 15-21

Good win by Sindhu against the Chinese great who is making a comeback. Otherwise expected results.

Tomorrow's matches -

[R2] (8) KIDAMBI Srikanth (IND,8) vs. Kenta NISHIMOTO (JPN,10)

[R2] (8) Saina NEHWAL (IND,9) vs. Fitriani FITRIANI (INA,31)
[R2] (2) PUSARLA V. Sindhu (IND,3) vs. Gregoria Mariska TUNJUNG (INA,14)

[R2] ATTRI Manu / REDDY B. Sumeeth (IND,27) vs. (5) Anders Skaarup RASMUSSEN / Kim ASTRUP (DEN,6)

Interesting that the 3 men who lost in the first round lost in to the WR #5, #6, and #7 respectively. However, our #8 Srikanth was able to pull out a win and now has a pretty tough second round.

All 3 of our singles players won their matches in straight games today.

At DAIHATSU Indonesia Masters 2019

[R2] (8) KIDAMBI Srikanth (IND,8) d. Kenta NISHIMOTO (JPN,10) 21-14 21-9

[R2] (8) Saina NEHWAL (IND,9) d. Fitriani FITRIANI (INA,31) 21-17 21-15
[R2] (2) PUSARLA V. Sindhu (IND,3) d. Gregoria Mariska TUNJUNG (INA,14) 23-21 21-7

[R2] ATTRI Manu / REDDY B. Sumeeth (IND,27) l. (5) Anders Skaarup RASMUSSEN / Kim ASTRUP (DEN,6) 14-21 21-17 10-21

Good win by Srikanth in particular against similar ranked opponent. So, yet another QF by Srilkanth which he has done consistently in last 6-8 months but has struggled to go ahead of that. Lets see now.

[QF] (8) KIDAMBI Srikanth (IND,8) vs. Jonatan CHRISTIE (INA,12)

[QF] (8) Saina NEHWAL (IND,9) vs. Pornpawee CHOCHUWONG (THA,22)
[QF] (2) PUSARLA V. Sindhu (IND,3) vs. (5) Carolina MARIN (ESP,4)

Tough one for Sindhu.

Only Saina thru to the semi finals.

At DAIHATSU Indonesia Masters 2019

[QF] (8) KIDAMBI Srikanth (IND,8) l. Jonatan CHRISTIE (INA,12) 18-21 19-21

[QF] (8) Saina NEHWAL (IND,9) d. Pornpawee CHOCHUWONG (THA,22) 21-7 21-18
[QF] (2) PUSARLA V. Sindhu (IND,3) l. (5) Carolina MARIN (ESP,4) 11-21 12-21

Not too worried about Sindhu as long she continues to do well in big tournaments. But, Srikanth's consistent losses in the QF's continuing. Lost count of the number of tournaments where he has lost in the quarter finals in last 6 months.

Next,

[SF] (8) Saina NEHWAL (IND,9) vs. (6) HE Bingjiao (CHN,7)

Saina is thru to the final.

At DAIHATSU Indonesia Masters 2019

[SF] (8) Saina NEHWAL (IND,9) d. (6) HE Bingjiao (CHN,7) 18-21 21-12 21-18

It has been an excellent start to the year by Saina reaching SF last week and now final this week, both better than her ranking would suggest.

Up against Marin next whom she lost to in last week's SF.

[F] (8) Saina NEHWAL (IND,9) vs. (5) Carolina MARIN (ESP,4)

Saina has won the Indonesian masters as Marin was injured. Marin was dominating at that time leading in the first game by 10-4. Lucky win for Saina.

Saina definitely didn't want to win this way for her first BWF 500 series title in 2 yrs ... Hoping speedy recovery for Marin.

Women's Singles Final
(8) Saina Nehwal (IND,9) bt (5) Carolina Marin (ESP,4) 4-10 retd.



P.C. to Saina's FB page

Saina is all class! An article on her husband Kashyap, who now doubles as her coach.

‘To play my bit in Saina’s success is a huge plus’ -- Kashyap