Saina, Prannoy, Praneeth advance in French Open
PARIS: Saina Newal, HS Prannoy and B Sai Praneeth made it through the opening day unscathed to enter the second round of the French Open Super Series on Wednesday.
Glasgow World Championship bronze medallist Saina staved off a spirited challenge from Denmark’s rising shuttler Line Hojmark Kjaersfeldt 21-14, 11-21, 21-10 and is likely to clash with Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi in a revenge match. Fifth seeded Yamaguchi had ended Saina’s good run at the Denmark Open last week and the Indian will be eager to avenge the defeat against the Danish Open finalist.
Earlier, US Open champion Prannoy, who had reached the quarterfinals at Odense, sent packing Denmark Open finalist Korea’s 37-year-old veteran Lee Hyun Il 21-15, 21-17, while Praneeth made amends for his opening round exit last week with a 21-13, 21-23, 21-19 win over Thailand’s Khosit Phetpradab.
Praneeth will face qualifier Kenta Nishimoto in his next match. The Japanese extended the woes of three-time Olympic silver medallist and current World No. 7 Lee Chong Wei by knocking out the Malaysian 21-14 21-15 in the opening round.
Prannoy, who has beaten the former World No. 1 Malaysian twice this season, will square off against Denmark’s Hans-kristian Solberg Vittinghus next.
However, it turned out to be a frustrating day for Commonwealth Games champion Parupalli Kashyap as his gallant fight ended with a narrow 23-21, 18-21, 17-21 loss to Indonesia’s rising star Anthony Sinisuka Ginting, who had won the Korea Open this season.
YUKI IN QUARTERS OF VIETNAM OPEN
NEWDELHI: Yuki Bhambri asserted his superiority over Ti Chen yet again as the top Indian eased into the singles quarter-finals of the Vietnam Open while his compatriot Prajnesh Gunneswaran advanced to the second round in the Ho Chi Minh City Challenger event. Yuki, now ranked 142, outclassed his opponent from Chinese Taipei 6-3, 6-1 in the second round of the hard court event while Prajnesh dispatched Australia’s Marc Polmans 6-4, 6-2 in his opener. “I am happy with the performance. I served well and attacked well. I hope to keep improving with every match,” Yuki said after his match. He next faces the Australian eighth seed John Millman, who dispatched Frenchman Antoine Escoffier 6-1 6-4.
GURSIMAR SHARES LEAD WITH VANI
GURGAON: Gursimar Badwal made amends for a disappointing first round and made a strong comeback with the day’s best card of one-under 71 to grab a share of the lead in the 14th leg of the Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour. The 24-year-old golfer from Kapurthala had six birdies in her round. Although she also dropped five bogeys in her 71.At five-over 149, Gursimar is tied with overnight leader Vani Kapoor (74).
BHULLAR AIMS TO HOLD ON TO WINNING WAYS
JAKARTA: Indian golfer Gaganjeet Bhullar will be aiming to continue his winning run as he seeks back-to-back titles and a successful title defence at the Indonesia Open, starting on Thursday. Coming off on the back of an eighth Asian Tour victory in Macau, Bhullar will be riding high on confidence when he takes on the talented 140-man field gathered for the $300,000 full-field event at the Pondok Indah Golf Course here.