BAC: Sindhu, Prannoy, Doubles pair ousted, India’s campaign ends
This was Sindhu’s first loss against the Chinese shuttler in six meetings.
Former world champion PV Sindhu chalked out a straight game win over Thailand ‘s Pornpicha Choeikeewomg to move into the second round of the Swiss Open singles badminton at the St Jakobshalle arena in Basel.
In the men’s section, Lakshya Sen and former world number one K Srikanth recorded contrasting wins to move into the second round.
Sindhu, 11th in the BWF rankings and seeded fourth, scored a 21-12, 21-13 win over her world No. 43 rival in 34 minutes.
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In the next round, she will face Japan’s 17-year-old Tomoka Miyazaki, ranked 27th.
Against the Thai, Sindhu began the first game cautiously but it did not take long for the Indian to find her range. From trailing 5-3, Sindhu went into the break with a four-point advantage at 11-7.
Though the Thai clinched the first point after the break, Sindhu bagged six straight points and eventually sealed the first game.
The second game was tied at 9-all before Sindhu snatched the momentum with two straight points. After that, she dominated the Thai to progress into the round of 16.
An in-form Lakshya Sen, who climbed up to world No. 13 in the latest badminton rankings after making semi-finals at the French Open and All-England Open, overcame a gritty opponent in Malaysia’s Leoong Jun Hao, world No. 36, with a 21-19, 15-21, 21-11 in 62 minutes.
Former world No. 1 Kidambi Srikanth also entered the second round following a 21-17, 21-18 win over Chinese Taipei’s Wang Tzu Wei.
Tanisha Crasto and Ashwini Ponnappa, seeded sixth in women’s doubles, advanced with a 21-18, 12-21, 21-19 win over Indonesia’s Meilysa Trias Puspita Sari and Rachel Rose.
Priya Konjengbam and Shruti Mishra defeated Chinese Taipei’s Huang Yu-Hsun and Liang Ting Yu 21-13, 21-19 in their women’s doubles fixture.
Men’s doubles pair of Hariharan Amsakarunan and Ruban Kumar Rethinasabapathi lost to Japan’s Kenya Mitsuhashi and Hiroki Okamura 21-19, 21-14.
A BWF Super 300 event, the Swiss Open offers crucial ranking points for the Paris 2024 Olympics. The ranking period for badminton started on May 1, 2023, and will end next month.
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