Srikanth Kidambi beats Lakshya Sen 2-0 in an All-Indian first round; Sameer Vermna creates an upset at French Open

Kidambi Shrikanth prevails over his Lakshya Sen in a battle of compatriots at the Badminton French open first round to march on in the tournament.

It was a very close match between the two Indians who seemed to know everything about one another. Fighting in second head-to-head battle, everyone expected a belter. And it turned out to be one as well.

Kidambi Shrikanth, the former world number 1, prevailed in the game but only just. He registered two straight set wins in the three-set contest. And none of them victories were easy.

Kidambi Shrikanth excels over his compatriot Lakshya Sen

Lakshya Sen was originally considered the favorite for the game. Still Shrikanth showed his class and took early control of the game. At one point he was leading the first set by 18-12.

Sen however came from behind to make it 18-18. A tipping point which might have changed the game in his favor. But Shrikanth was having none of it.

In a flurry of points he made sure to end the set, leaving no room for a comeback for Sen. As a result, he won the first set 21-18.

Having lost the first set, Lakshya took up a rather attacking approach in the second set. But the experience and level headedness of Shrikanth prevailed over the hot young blood.

The second set was almost identical to the first one in which both players had edge at one point or the other. Although, Shrikanth kept chipping away with the game and ended it with 21-18.

The first-round tie between Shrikanth and Lakshya Sen came to end in just 46 minutes.

Kidambi Srikanth will take on either Rasmus Gemke of Denmark or Nhat Nguyen of Ireland in his second-round game.

Sameer Verma creates an upset

In other matches unseeded Sameer Verma scripted an upset for Anthony Glinting of Indonesia. The Indian beat the Indonesian in a closely contested game by the margin of 21-15, 21-23, 22-20.

While India also suffered a huge defeat in the doubles game. The doubles pair of MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila crashed out after suffering a first round defeat.