Sindhu moves into the pre-quarterfinals

Sai Praneeth and Ajay Jayaram advance; Mixed fortunes for mixed pairs

No sweat: P.V. Sindhu started her campaign with a straight-game win over South Korea’s Kim Hyo Min.

Olympic silver medallist P.V. Sindhu advanced to the pre-quarterfinals of the women’s singles competition after defeating Korea’s Kim Hyo Min in the second round of the World Championships here on Tuesday.

Sindhu, who won bronze medals at the 2013 and 2014 editions, notched up a 21-16, 21-14 win over Kim in a 49 minute match, to extend her head-to-head record against the Korean to 4-1.

Singapore Open champion B. Sai Praneeth opened his campaign with a straight-game win over Hong Kong’s Wei Nan to reach the second round of men’s singles event.

The 15th-seeded Indian fought back from 5-9 and 14-16 in the opening game and then erased a deficit of 10-13 and 15-17 in the second to eventually see off Wei Nan 21-18, 21-17 in a 48-minute match.

In another match, Ajay Jayaram, seeded 13th, had the measure of the Austrian Luka Wraber in 31 minutes, winning 21-14, 21-12.

Lee Chong Wei ousted

In the biggest upset in the section, France’s Brice Leverdez pulled off the first shock by defeating second seed Lee Chong Wei 21-19, 22-24, 21-17 in 75 minutes and perhaps end Lee’s elusive search for the world title which has seen him take three silver medals just as he has done in the Olympics.

India top mixed doubles pair of Pranaav Jerry Chopra and N. Sikki Reddy, also seeded 15th, defeated Indo-Malaysian combo of Prajakta Sawant and Yogendran Khrishnan 21-12, 21-19.

However, in the other mixed doubles matches, B. Sumeeth Reddy and Ashwini Ponnappa, and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and K. Maneesha suffered contrasting losses to bow out.

The results (Indians only):

Men’s singles: Ajay Jayaram bt Luka Wraber (Aut) 21-14, 21-12; B. Sai Praneeth bt Wei Nan (HK) 21-18, 21-17; Sameer Verna bt Pablo Abian (Esp) 21-8, 17-4 retd.

Doubles: Chung Eui Soek & Kim Dukyoung (Kor) bt Manu Attri & Sumeeth Reddy 22-20, 21-11; Hiroyuki Endo & Yuta Watanabe (Jpn) bt Satwiksairaj Rankireddy & Chirag Shetty 21-8, 21-12.

Women’s singles: Second round: P.V. Sindhu bt Kim Hyo Min (Kor) 21-16, 21-14.

First round: Rituparna Das bt Airi Mikkela (Fin) 2-0 retd.; Tanvi Lad bt Chloe Birch (Eng) 17-21, 21-10, 21-19.

Doubles: Sanjana Santosh & Aarthi Sara Sunil bt Natalya Voyetsekh & Yelyzaveta Zharka (Ukr) 21-15, 21-18; Ashwini Ponnappa & Sikki Reddy bt Ririn Amelia (Ina) & Anna Ching Yik Chong (Mas) 21-15, 21-13.

Mixed doubles:Second round: Pranaav Jerry Chopra & N. Sikki Reddy bt Prajakta Sawant & Yogendran Khrishnan (Mas) 21-12, 21-19.

Wang Yilyu & Huang Dongping (Chn) bt B. Sumeeth Reddy & Ashwini Ponnappa 21-17, 18-21, 21-5; Mathias Christiansen & Sara Thygesen (Den) Satwiksairaj Rankireddy & K. Maneesha 22-20, 21-18 .