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 On Wednesday, Indian ace Kidambi Srikanth outclassed England's Toby Penty in straight matches to reach the second round of the Denmark Open here and compared his return to international badminton to "an adventure" after a coronavirus-forced hiatus. 


Toby 21-12 21-18 was defeated in 37 minutes by the former world number one, who had won four Super Series titles in 2017, as the sport finally got going after a seven-month pause. 


"I started off well, but in the second game, he was good. After a long time, I will play. It's an adventure, like. It's something different, this case. 


I've never been away for this long, "he told the Badminton World Federation," and I'm pleased with the way it went. 


In the next round, the fifth seed will face either fellow Indian Subhankar Dey or Jason Anthony Ho-Shue of Canada. 


I played at All England for the last time, where I lost in the first round, so I didn't have a lot of match practise. But I think that I'm coming back slowly.


It'll probably take some time, as after this one there are no tournaments. A break in the season will take place, so it might take time to get used to the feeling of the match. 


Srikanth spent the early part of the lockdown in his hometown, where, at his usual stage, he could not practise. For him, it was a chance to focus on life outside badminton. 


I wanted to enjoy everything that came my way. You couldn't go out, you couldn't do something, so you had to say anything at home. People have begun to like what they've got. Something that is really significant. 


I went back to my hometown (Guntur) after All England, and was there for four months. In the first week of August, I returned to Hyderabad, so I trained for that month, thinking about the Thomas Cup,' he said. 


I was not at all able to practise at the highest intensity. There are not many facilities at my place, so I couldn't train at the highest level. But I had to take time to get back to my past strength when I returned to Hyderabad.


In 2017, when he won back-to - back Super Series in Indonesia and Australia, and then in Denmark and France, he enjoyed a wonderful season, helping him rise to No.1 worldwide. But his form has dwindled since then. 


"It's a nice draw, and after a long time, I'm playing," he said of the ongoing version. 


"All I want is to try to play as many matches as I can. I have come here hoping that this is a chance to understand where I am. 


"... So I will probably really evaluate this tournament and prepare accordingly when the tournament season begins in January, so I will be at a much better stage." 


The only thing to happen this year is the Denmark Open Super 750, as the BWF was forced to cancel several tournaments and postpone the Asian leg and the World Tour Final to next year.Twitter