Sindhu, Srikanth make impressive start to Indonesia Open

Top Indian shuttlers P V Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth made impressive starts to their campaign, progressing to the second round of the Indonesia Open with contrasting wins at the BWF World Tour Super 1000 tournament, here on Wednesday.

Rejuvenated after a month-long break from a hectic BWF schedule, Sindhu and Srikanth prevailed over Japanese shuttlers Aya Ohori and Kenta Nishimoto in women’s and men’s singles respectively.

Fifth seed Sindhu, who is looking for her first title of the season, staved off a challenge from Ohori with a 11-21 21-15 21-15 win, while eighth seed Srikanth, who had entered the finals at India Open this year, beat Nishimoto 21-14 21-13 in 38 minutes.

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While Sindhu extended her stranglehold over Ohori with seventh straight victory, it was Srikanth’s fifth win over Nishomoto, who had defeated the Indian only once in their six meetings.

While World No 5 Sindhu will face either Denmark’s Mia Blichfeldt or Hong Kongs Yip Pui Yin next, World No 9 Srikanth meets the winner of the clash between France’s Brice Leverdez and Hong Kong’s Ng Ka Long Angus.

B Sai Praneeth, who had reached the Swiss Open final this year, bowed out of the competition after losing 15-21 21-13 10-21 to Hong Kongs Wong Wing Ki Vincent, an opponent against whom he had a 2-2 head-to-head count before the match.