Indian shuttlers had a mixed day at the Australian Open Superseries as fifth seed P.V. Sindhu, Saina Nehwal, K. Srikanth and B. Sai Praneeth progressed to the second round but some others were knocked out in the opening round here on Wednesday.
Saina was up against a tough opponent in fourth seed Sung Ji Hyun of Korea but the former World No.1 held a 38-minute master-class to win 21-10, 21-16.
Fifth-seeded Sindhu overcame a second game loss to prevail over Japan’s Sayaki Sato 21-17, 14-21, 21-18.
Ruthvika Shivani Gadde lost to China’s Xiaoxin Chen. 21-17, 12-21, 21-12.
In the men’s category, Srikanth defeated Chinese Taipei’s Kan Chao Yu 21-13, 21-16, while Sai Praneeth had to sweat it out to register a 10-21, 21-12, 21- 10 win over Indonesia’s Tommy Sugiarto.
Four exit in men’s singles
However, it was curtains for H.S. Prannoy, Ajay Jayaram, P. Kashyap and Siril Verma. Up against the seventh seed Ng Ka Long Angus of Hong Kong, Jayaram fought hard before losing 14-21, 21-10, 21-9. Kashyap gave Son a run for his money before losing 21-18, 14-21, 21-15. Siril was shown the door by Hans-Kristian Solberg Vittinghus of Denmark 21-16, 21-8 while Prannoy lost 21-19, 21-13 to Rajiv Ouseph of England.
The results: Men: K. Srikanth bt Kan Chao Yu (Tpe) 21-13, 21-16; Sai Praneeth bt Tommy Sugiarto (Ina) 10-21, 21-12, 21-10; Ng Ka Long Angus (HK) bt Ajay Jayaram 14-21, 21-10, 21-9; Son Wan Ho (Kor) bt P. Kashyap 21-18, 14-21, 21-15; Hans-Kristian Solberg Vittinghus (Den) bt Siril Verma 21-16, 21-8; Rajiv Ouseph (Eng) bt H.S. Prannoy 21-19, 21-13.
Doubles: Satwiksairaj Ranki Reddy & Chirag Shetty bt Cheuk Him Law & Chun Hei Reginald Lee (HK) 20-22, 21-19, 21-11; Hendra Setiawan (Ina) & Boon Heong Tan (Mas) bt Francis Alwin & Tarun Kona 21-17, 21-15; Takeshi Kamura & Keigo Sonoda (Jpn) bt Manu Attri & B. Sumeeth Reddy 22-20, 21-6.
Women: Saina Nehwal bt Sung Ji Hyun (Kor) 21-10, 21-16; P.V. Sindhu bt Sayaki Sato (Jpn) 21-17, 14-21, 21-18; Xiaoxin Chen (Chn) bt Ruthvika Shivani Gadde 21-17, 12-21 21-12.
Doubles: Ashwini Ponnappa & Sikki N. Reddy bt Hsuan-Yu Wendy Chen & Jennifer Tam (Aus) 21-11, 21-13.
Mixed doubles: Chun Hei Reginald Lee & Hoi Wah Chau (HK) bt Satwiksairaj Ranki Reddy & Ashwini Ponnappa 21-13, 21-17 .
