Malaysia Open: PV Sindhu progresses, Saina Nehwal bows out in the first round

If
Sindhu,
a
former
world
champion,
dished
out
a
fine
performance
to
outwit
Thailand’s
world
number
10
Pornpawee
Chochuwong
21-13,
21-17,
London
Olympics
bronze
medallist
Saina
went
down
fighting
against
American
Iris
Wang,
ranked
33rd
in
the
world,
11-21
17-21
in
37
minutes.

Sindhu,
seeded
seventh,
set
up
a
clash
with
Phittayaporn
Chaiwan,
a
21-year-old
from
Thailand,
who
held
the
number
one
ranking
in
world
junior
ranking
and
also
was
part
of
the
bronze
medal-winning
team
at
the
Uber
Cup
in
Bangkok.

B
Sumeeth
Reddy
and
Ashwini
Ponnappa,
who
will
be
leading
India’s
charge
at
the
Commonwealth
Games,
also
couldn’t
get
past
world
number
21
pairing
of
Robin
Tabeling
and
Selena
Piek
of
the
Netherlands.

The
Indian
duo
lost
15-21,
21-19,
17-21
after
a
52-minute
battle.

Earlier,
HS
Prannoy
faced
stiff
resistance
before
prevailing
against
local
hero
Daren
Liew
as
the
Indian
shuttler
progressed
to
the
men’s
singles
second
round
of
the
Malaysia
Open,
on
Tuesday
(June
28).

A
former
top-10
player,
Prannoy,
who
had
reached
the
semifinals
of
Indonesia
Open
Super
1000
earlier
this
month,
emerged
a
21-14,
17-21,
21-18
winner
in
62
minutes.

The
29-year-old
from
Kerala,
ranked
21st
currently,
will
face
fourth
seeded
Chou
Tien
Chen
of
Chinese
Taipei
next
at
the
Super
750
badminton
tournament.

Prannoy’s
win
brought
some
cheers
to
the
Indian
camp
after
B
Sai
Praneeth
and
Sameer
Verma
made
early
exits.

While
Praneeth
went
down
to
world
number
six
Anthony
Sinisuka
Ginting
of
Indonesia,
Sameer
lost
to
world
number
8
Jonatan
Christie,
also
from
Indonesia.

The
30-year-old
Praneeth,
currently
ranked
world
number
19,
lost
15-21,
21-19,
9-21
to
Ginting
in
a
50-minute
men’s
single
match.

This
was
the
eighth
meeting
between
the
players
with
the
Indonesian
leading
the
head-to-head
record
4-3.
They
last
played
at
the
2020
Asian
Team
championships
where
Ginting
won
the
contest
after
Praneeth
retired
due
to
an
injury.

Sameer,
who
is
making
a
comeback
from
injury,
fought
for
49
minutes
before
losing
14-21,
21-13,
7-21
in
another
match.