Jakarta: Indian shuttler Kidambi Srikanth was knocked out of the Indonesia Masters 500 tournament after suffering a first-round defeat to local favourite Shesar Hiren Rhustavito here on Wednesday.
World No.12 Srikanth went down to Rhustavito 21-18 12-21 14-21 in a match that lasted one hour and three minutes.
This was Srikanth's second consecutive opening-round defeat this season. He had also made a first-round exit from the Malaysia Masters last week after he lost to Chou Tien Chen of Taiwan. It has been a disastrous start to the season for Srikanth, who is looking to qualify for 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Also, Srikanth now has a 0-2 head-to-head record against Rhustavito. He had last lost to the Indonesian in the 2-11 BWF World Junior Championships in three games. Even back then, he taken the first game only to lose the next two
Meanwhile, in mixed doubles, Pranaav Jerry Chopra and Sikki Reddy went down in straight games to the South Korean combination of Ko Sung Hyun and Eom Hye Won 8-21 14-21.
