PV Sindhu, Srikanth, Praneeth advance to second round

NEW DELHI: India's double Olympic medallist P V Sindhu, Kidambi Srikanth and B Sai Praneeth advanced to the second round of the Indonesia Open in Bali on Wednesday.

According to information received here, Sindhu defeated Japan's Aya Ohori 17-21, 21-17, 21-17, while Srikanth defeated HS Prannoy 21-15, 19-21, 21- 12 in a match that lasted for 56 minutes.

In another men's singles match, World number 16 B Sai Praneeth clinched a 21-19, 21-18 win over France's Toma Junior Popov.

While Praneeth will next take on Christo Popov of France in the second round, Srikanth will meet the winner of the first-round clash between Tokyo Olympics gold medallist second seed Dane Victor Axelsen and Japan's Koki Watanabe.

In the mixed doubles, India's Dhruv Kapila and N Sikki Reddy bowed out following a 7-21, 12-21 defeat to Japan's Kyohei Yamashita and Naru Shinoya.

In the women's doubles, Reddy and Ashwini Ponnappa went down 27-29, 18-21 to the fifth-seeded Bulgarian duo of Gabriela Stoeva and Stefani Stoeva.

In the second round, Sindhu will face Germany's Yvonne Li, who edged past Turkish shuttler Neslihan Yigit 19-21, 23-21, 21-13.

The World No. 22 Ohori's aggressive play caught Sindhu off guard as she conceded a 13-9 lead in the first game. However, using her experience, Sindhu rallied back to draw level at 15-15 and even took a one-point lead. But Ohori responded with four consecutive points and wrapped up the first game 21-17.

Ohori carried her rhythm into the second game, racing to a 4-0 lead but Sindhu amped up her game to take the second game 21-17 and forced a decider.

The third game proved to be a closely-fought affair as both players enjoyed patches of dominance. However, with the score level at 15-15, Sindhu found her flow and repeated the second-game scoreline to win the match in one hour and 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, Srikanth won the first game, but Prannoy staged a comeback, sending the match into the third and deciding game. Srikanth, however, did not relent and he ended up winning the third and final game, progressing ahead in the tournament. (IANS)

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