Indonesia Masters badminton: India’s PV Sindhu in second round
Lakshya Sen, too, won his first match to set up a second-round clash against world No. 1 Kento Momota.
India’s double Olympic medallist PV Sindhu beat Thailand’s Supanida Katethong to march into the second round of the women’s singles event at the Indonesia Masters 2021 badminton in Bali on Tuesday.
PV Sindhu, who was last seen in action at the French Open semi-finals, won her match 21-15, 21-19.
Up against the world No. 33 Supanida Katethong in the round of 32, PV Sindhu started well and raced to an 11-5 lead. The Thai shuttler fought back post the mid-game interval and clawed the score back to 16-13.
PV Sindhu, the reigning women’s world champion, however, used her experience to close out the first game 21-15.
In stark contrast to the first, the second game put PV Sindhu to the test. With Supanida Katethong fighting tooth and nail for every point, the Indian ace needed to be on her toes in order to edge it 21-19.
PV Sindhu will face world No. 47 Clara Azurmendi of Spain in the round of 16. Azurmendi defeated Indonesia’s Fitriani Fitriani 21-18, 21-14 in her first round clash.
In the men’s singles, Lakshya Sen edged out Japan’s Kanta Tsuneyama in his first-round clash, winning the three-game match 21-17, 18-21, 21-17.
The Indian youngster, however, can expect a far stiffer challenge in the next match with another Japanese shuttler, this time world No. 1 Kento Momota, blocking his way.
India’s men’s doubles hope Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, meanwhile, were ousted after an upset 21-17, 21-15 loss to Malaysian pair Ong Yew Sin and Teo Ee Yi.
In women’s doubles, however, Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy pulled off a thrilling 9-21, 21-11, 21-18 win over Denmark’s Alexandra Boje and Mette Poulsen to progress in the competition.