Top Indian shuttlers PV Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth advanced to the second round, but Saina Nehwal failed to cross the opening hurdle at the Malaysia Open World Tour Super 750 tournament on Wednesday.
PV Sindhu got the better of Aya Ohori by a scoreline of 22-20 21-12
Kuala Lumpur:
Fifth seed Sindhu will now look to avenge her All England loss against Korea’s Sung Ji Hyun, whom she faces next, while Srikanth will meet Thailand’s Khosit Phetpradab on Thursday. Eighth seed Saina, who came into the tournament after recovering from a pancreas infection, fought hard before going down 22-20 15-21 10-21 to Thailand’s Pornpawee Chochuwong.
HS Prannoy, who had reached the quarter-finals last week in New Delhi, also bowed out after losing 21-12 16-21 14-21 to Sitthikom Thammasin of Thailand. With Sameer Verma too crashing out in the opening round, Srikanth is the only Indian in the fray in men’s singles.
Men’s doubles pair of Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy also failed to cross the first hurdle, going down 16-21 6-21 to seventh seeds Han Chengkai and Zhou Haodong of China.
In the women’s singles match, Sindhu was on the back foot in the opening game, trailing 7-12. The Indian then clawed back, grabbing a 13-12 lead but the Japanese once again moved ahead to hold a game point. Sindhu then reeled off three successive points to secure the first game. In the second game, Sindhu changed her strategy and reduced her errors to zoom to a 12-5 lead and continued to surge ahead.
Sindhu staved off a spirited challenge from World no. 20 Aya Ohori 22-20 21-12 to record her sixth win over the Japanese. India Open finalist Srikanth beat Indonesia’s Ihsan Maulana Mustofa 21-18 21-16 in 38 minutes.
Fifth seed Sindhu will now look to avenge her All England loss against Korea’s Sung Ji Hyun, whom she faces next, while Srikanth will meet Thailand’s Khosit Phetpradab on Thursday. Eighth seed Saina, who came into the tournament after recovering from a pancreas infection, fought hard before going down 22-20 15-21 10-21 to Thailand’s Pornpawee Chochuwong.
HS Prannoy, who had reached the quarter-finals last week in New Delhi, also bowed out after losing 21-12 16-21 14-21 to Sitthikom Thammasin of Thailand. With Sameer Verma too crashing out in the opening round, Srikanth is the only Indian in the fray in men’s singles.
Men’s doubles pair of Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy also failed to cross the first hurdle, going down 16-21 6-21 to seventh seeds Han Chengkai and Zhou Haodong of China.
In the women’s singles match, Sindhu was on the back foot in the opening game, trailing 7-12. The Indian then clawed back, grabbing a 13-12 lead but the Japanese once again moved ahead to hold a game point. Sindhu then reeled off three successive points to secure the first game. In the second game, Sindhu changed her strategy and reduced her errors to zoom to a 12-5 lead and continued to surge ahead.