Sindhu in China Open pre-quarters, Saina out
CHANGZHOU, CHINA : Olympic and world championship silver-medallist PV Sindhu on Tuesday progressed to the pre-quarterfinals but Saina Nehwal bowed out after a narrow loss at the China Open World Tour Super 1000 tournament here.
The third-seeded Sindhu, who had clinched the China Open title in 2016, defeated world No 39 Saena Kawakami of Japan 21-15, 21-13 in the opening round at the Olympic Sports Center Xincheng Gymnasium.
However, two-time Commonwealth Games gold medallist Saina, who was the first Indian to win the China title in 2014, lost 22-20, 8-21, 14-21 to Korea’s Sung Ji Hyun in a 48-minute opener.
Men’s doubles pair of Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy, the national champions, defeated Chinese Taipei’s Liao Min Chun and Su Ching Heng 13-21, 21-13, 21-12 in 39 minutes to enter the second round.
The women’s singles match between Sindhu and Saena started out as a close contest before the Indian broke off to grab a 13-7 lead at one stage.
She kept dominating the rallies and pocketed the opening game without much trouble.
In the second game, Sindhu zoomed to a 6-0 lead but Saena managed to make it 8-10 before the Indian entered the interval with a slender 11-9 lead.
After the break, Sindhu jumped to 15-11 before grabbing eight match points at 20-12 and sealed it comfortably. IMPORTANT RESULTS
Men’s singles: Anthony Sinisuka Ginting (Ina) bt Lin Dan (Chn) 22-24, 21-5, 21-19; 4-Son Wan Ho (Kor) bt Lee Cheuk Yiu (Hkg) 19-21, 21-5, 21-13; 1Viktor Axelsen (Den) bt Khosit Phetpradab (Tha) 21-12, 21-15.
Doubles: Attri Manu/reddy B Sumeeth (Ind) bt Liao Min Chun/ Su Ching Heng (Tpe) 13-21, 21-13, 21-12. Women’s singles: 2-Akane Yamaguchi (Jpn) bt Goh Jin Wei (Mal) 23-21, 12-21, 21-15; 3-PV Sindhu (Ind) bt Saena Kawakami (Jpn) 21-15, 21-13; Sung Ji Hyun (Kor) bt Saina Nehwal (Ind) 2022, 21-8, 21-14.
Doubles: 2-Misaki Matsutomo/ayaka Takahashi (Jpn) bt Ekaterina Bolotova/ Alina Davletova (Rus) 21-9, 21-9.
Mixed doubles: Pranaav Jerry Chopra/reddy N Sikki (Ind) bt Marvin Emil Seidel/linda Efler (Ger) 21-19, 21-17; 3-Tontowi Ahmad/liliyana Natsir (Ina) bt Yuki Kaneko/misaki Matsutomo (Jpn) 21-7, 21-16; 2-Wang Yilyu/huang Dongping (Chn) bt Takuro Hoki/koharu Yonemoto (Jpn) 21-17, 21-12.