Kidambi Srikanth started his campaign in the Taipei Open on a bright note and moved into the second round of the Super 300 badminton tournament along with a host of other Indian youngsters in Taipei on Wednesday.
World No. 61 Srikanth, who is battling an extended lean patch, dispatched fellow-Indian Sankar Subramanian, a 2022 World junior Championships silver medallist, 21-16 21-15.
The 32-year-old, a silver-medallist at the 2021 World Championships, will face another Indian, Ayush Shetty, a 2023 World junior championships bronze medallist.
Ayush, who reached the semi-finals of the Orleans Masters, beat third seed Lee Chia Hao of Chinese Taipei 21-17, 21-18 in 50 minutes.
2023 National Games gold-medallist Tharun Mannepalli produced a gritty show, outwitting Japan's Shogo Ogawa 21-17, 19-21, 21-12 in 70 minutes, to set up a meeting with Indonesia's Mohd. Zaki Ubaidillah.
Meiraba Luwang Maisnam, however, went down 21-23, 12-21 to Canada's Brian Yang.
In the women's singles, Unnati Hooda, winner of two super 100 titles -- 2022 Odisha Masters and 2023 Abu Dhabi Masters -- beat compatriot Anupama Upadhyaya 21-13, 21-17 to also reach the second round. She will face Taipei's Lin Sih Yun next.
Aakarshi Kashyap fell at the opening hurdle, going down 9-21, 12-21 to Taipei's Hung Yi-Ting.
Anmol Kharb and Rakshitha Sree Santhosh Ramraj will play later in the day.
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