Singles ace Kidambi posts consecutive wins to qualify for main draw

India's singles ace Kidambi Srikanth qualified to the main draw of the Malaysia Masters on Tuesday.

Kidambi defeated Chinese Taipei's Huang Yu Kai 9-21, 21-12, 21-6 in his second qualifying game. He had drubbed Kuo Kuan Lin, also of Taipei, 21-8, 21-13, in the first round in men's singles.

Former World No. 1 Kidambi is making a comeback in the Super 500 tournament. The former silver medallist at World Championships will face sixth seed Lu Guang Zu of China in the main draw.

Two other Indian singles players, Tharun Mannepalli and Anmol Kharb, fell in the qualification stage. Mannepalli lost 13-21, 21-23 to Thailand's Panitchaphon Teeraratsakul. Women's single player Kharb went down 14-21, 18-21 to Taipei's Hung Yi-Ting. Thiruvananthapuram native H S Prannoy and P V Sindhu will begin their campaign on Wednesday.