Orleans Masters: Kidambi Srikanth to face Jayaram in 2nd round
ORLEANS (France): Ajay Jayaram, Kiran George and Mithun Manjunath went through to the second round of the Orleans Masters Super 100 badminton tournament. Jayaram beat compatriot Alap Mishra in the first round and will now face another compatriot, top seed and former world No.1 Kidambi Srikanth in the second round.
The Orleans Masters provides crucial ranking points that will be part of the qualification cycle for this year's Tokyo Olympics. Srikanth had got a bye in his first round match. Jayaram, on the other hand, beat Mishra 19-21, 23-21, 21-16 in 53 minutes. George will also face a high-profile compatriot in second seed HS Prannoy after beating Dutch All England Open semi-finalist Mark Caljouw 13-21, 21-18, 22-20 in the first round. Caljouw had earlier beaten Prannoy in the first round of the Swiss Open. (IANS)