Birmingham: World Champion shuttler PV Sindhu made a confident start at the All England Open, beating American Beiwin Zhang in straight games, but Kidambi Srikanth bowed out with a first round defeat here Wednesday.
The sixth seed and World No.6 Sindhu got the better of the American, ranked eight places below her, 21-14 21-17 in just 42 minutes.
The second game was a close affair with the two players locked at 16-16. Sindhu, however, won four points in a row after it became 17-all to clinch the issue. It was the 10th meeting between the two players with Sindhu improving the head-to-head record to 6-4. The last time they met was at the Korea Open where the American won in three sets.
Sindhu will next clash with Korean Sung Ji Hyun for a place in the quarterfinals.
However, in the men’s singles, Srikanth lost in straight games to the Chinese World No.5 Chen Long 15-21, 16-21 in 43 minutes.
Saina Nehwal and P Kashyap are also scheduled to play later Wednesday along with young Lakshya Sen and B Sai Praneeth. Saina is up against third seeded Japanese Akane Yamaguchi a player whom she has never beaten.
In women’s doubles, Ashwini Ponnappa and Sikki Reddy will open their campaign against the British pair of Jenny Moore and Victoria Williams.
In mixed doubles Pranaav Jerry Chopra and N Sikki Reddy lost 13-21, 21-11, 17-21 to top-seeded Chinese pair of Si Wei Zheng and Ya Qiong Huang.
PTI
