India shuttler Kidambi Srikanth opened his campaign at the Thailand Masters badminton tournament with a straight-game win over Taiwan’s Wang Tzu Wei here on Wednesday.

The former world No .1 number toiled hard for 45 minutes to get the better of Wang 22-20, 21-19 and enter the second round.

The first game saw a seesaw battle, with Srikanth saving three game points before sealing it 22-20. The second game proved steadier, with both players probing each other’s defenses. However, Srikanth’s late-game acceleration secured him a 21-19 victory.

He will take on compatriot Mithun Manjunath who defeated Hong Kong’s Jason Gunawan 21-17, 21-8.

S Sankar Muthusamy Subramanian also started his campaign with a 21-14 21-17 straight-game win over Leong Jun Hao of Malaysia.

Sameer Verma made a first-round exit, going down to Hong Kong’s Angus Ng Ka Long 14-21, 18-21 while Kiran George retired after trailing 17-21 in his round of 32 match against China’s Lei Lan Xi.

Malvika Bansod and Ashmita Chaliha cruised to the second round of the women’s singles event.

While Ashmita defeated Wong Ling Ching of Malaysia 21-10, 21-16, Malivika got the better of Peru’s Ines Lucia Castillo Salazar 22-20, 21-8.

Young talent Samiya Imad Farooqui faced a formidable opponent in world no. 19 Busanan Ongbamrungphan of Thailand. Despite a valiant effort, Samiya fell short, losing 14-21, 18-21.

The Thai star, Busanan, is now set to clash with Malvika in the second-round encounter on Thursday.