Millennium Post

Srikanth, Sindhu enter second round but Saina, Prannoy exit

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BANGKOK: Two-time Olympic medallist P V Sindhu huffed and puffed her way to the women's singles second round while Kidambi Srikanth and HS Prannoy, the protagonis­ts of India's historic Thomas Cup triumph, suffered contrastin­g fates in the opening round of Thailand Open here on Wednesday.

Sindhu, seeded sixth and ranked seventh in the world, staved off a spirited challenge from world number 62, USA'S Lauren Lam 21-19, 19-21, 21-18 to set up a clash with Sim Yu Jin, who had played a pivotal role in Korea's Uber Cup win.

Fresh from playing a major role in the Thomas Cup victory, Srikanth, seeded eighth, produced a gritty show to get the better of Brice Leverdez of France 18-21, 21-10, 21-16 in 49 minutes. Prannoy, who won the decisive third singles during the quarterfin­als and semifinals of Thomas Cup, went down fighting 17-21, 21-15, 15-21 to Daren Liew of Malaysia.

Among other Indians in the fray, Ashwini Bhat K and Shikha Gautam beat Thailand's Kittipak Dubthuk and Prinda Pattanawar­itthipan 21-12, 21-17 to enter the second round.

Ishaan Bhatnagar and Tanisha Crasto got a walkover from USA'S Mathew Fogarty and Isabel Zhong to also advance to the second round.

Saina Nehwal battled hard for 50 minutes before losing 21-11, 15-21, 17-21 to Korean Kim Ga Eun in the women's singles first round.

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