Sindhu, Prannoy sail; Saina loses

Hong Kong, Nov. 13: World Champion P. V. Sindhu made a positive start to her campaign but Saina Nehwal and Sameer Verma were ousted from the Hong Kong Open after suffering contrasting defeats in the opening round of the $400,000 event here on Wednesday.

Sixth seed Sindhu, who had faltered in the opening round in a couple of recent tournaments, took 36 minutes to see off World No.19 Kim Ga Eun of Korea 21-15, 21-16 to progress to the second round.

The Olympic silver medallist will face Thailand’s Busanan Ongbamrungphan next.

H. S. Prannoy also crossed the opening hurdle, beating China’s Huang Yu Xiang 21-17, 21-17 in 44 minutes to a clash with sixth seed Indonesian Jonatan Christie.

However, eighth seed Saina, who claimed the Indonesia Masters in January this year, suffered her fifth first-round loss in the last six tournaments, going down 13-21, 20-22 to China’s Cai Yan Yan for the second successive time. She had lost to Cai at China Open last week.

World No.16 Sameer fought for 54 minutes before going to Wang Tzu Wei of Chinese Taipei 1121, 21-13, 8-21 in the opening match. It was his third successive loss in the opening round.

Women’s doubles pair of Ashwini Ponnappa and N. Sikki Reddy also couldn’t cross the opening round, losing 13-21, 12-21 to Denmark’s Maiken Fruergaard and Sara Thygesen.

World No.6 Sindhu moved to a 8-4 lead early on but Kim managed to turn the tables, holding a 11-10 advantage at the breather. The Indian then reeled off six points at 13-13 to march ahead and seal the opening game.

The second game was no different as Sindhu again broke off at 5-5, grabbing seven points on the trot to move to a massive 12-5 lead. The Indian kept moving ahead and eventually shut the door comfortably on her opponent.