Indian shuttlers Kidambi Srikanth and Sameer Verma advanced to the second round of the Korea Masters after comprehensively winning their opening round contests on Wednesday. Sixth-seed Srikanth defeated Hong Kong’s Wong Wing Ki Vincent 21-18, 21-17 in a match that lasted 37 minutes at the Gwangju Women’s University Stadium.
With the win, Srikanth has extended his dominance over Vincent, having a 11-3 head-to-head record. The win comes as a morale booster for the 26-year-old who has struggled for form since reaching the final of the India Open in March.
He will now face Japan’s Kanta Tsuneyama in the second round.
In the other men’s singles encounter, Sameer also made it to the next round after his opponent Japan’s Kazumasa Sakai retired midway with the score reading 11-8 in favour of the Indian. He will now face Kim Donghun who defeated Sourabh Verma 21-13, 12-21, 13-21 in a 52-minute match.
