PV Sindhu cruises into second round at India Open badminton
The top seed beat Sri Krishna Priya Kudaravallli in straight games. Ashmita Chaliha, meanwhile, pulled off an upset win over Evgeniya Kosetskaya in the opening round.
Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu eased into the second round of the women’s singles of the India Open 2022 at the KD Jadhav Indoor Hall in New Delhi on Tuesday.
The Indian badminton ace beat compatriot Sri Krishna Priya Kudaravalli 21-5, 21-16 in just 27 minutes. She will next face either Ira Sharma in the round of 16.
World championships silver-medallist and former world No. 1 Kidambi Srikanth also cruised into the round of 16 after beating youngster Siril Verma 21-17, 21-10.
He will now face Kim Bruun, who got the better of Subhankar Dey in the opening round.
Meanwhile, 22-year-old Ashmita Chaliha - the 2019 South Asian Games champion - caused an upset on the opening day after overcoming fifth seed Evgeniya Kosetskaya of the National Badminton Federation of Russia 24-22, 21-16.
Kosetskaya is ranked world No. 28, 58 places above Ashmita Chaliha in the world rankings. The Indian will play Yaelle Hoyaux next.
“I haven’t played a lot of matches in the last few years. So, I was nervous and that affected me midway in the opening game. But once I won the first game, I was more confident and so I was relaxed in the second game,” Ashmita Chaliha said after the match.
Indonesian veterans Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan, the top seeds in the men’s doubles, also advanced to the next round after beating Prem Chouhan and Rajesh Verma 21-18, 21-10.
World champion Loh Kean Yew of Singapore meanwhile came from a game down to defeat Xiaodong Sheng 16-21, 21-4, 21-13. This was his first competitive match since his world championship gold.