Bangkok: Top shuttlers PV Sindhu and HS Prannoy progressed to the women’s and men’s singles pre-quarterfinals with straight game wins on a day of mixed fortunes for India at the USD 3,50,000 Thailand Open badminton tournament here, Wednesday.
Olympic silver medallist Sindhu brushed aside Bulgaria’s Linda Zetchiri 21-8, 21-15 in the opening round to set up a clash with Hong Kong’s Yip Pui Yin. It was a lesson in badminton for the young Bulgarian player as Sindhu dominated the opening game completely. In the second game, Sindhu relaxed a bit which allowed Zetchiri get into double digits on the scoreboard.
Playing only his second tournament after recovering from an inflammation in his ankle, Prannoy defeated Spain’s Pablo Abian 21-16, 21-19 in the men’s singles encounter. The Spaniard had clinched the White Nights title last Sunday defeating India’s Ajay Jayaram. The fourth-seeded Indian will face experienced Sony Dwi Kuncoro of Indonesia, Thursday.
Returning to action after recovering from a stress fracture on his shin Parupalli Kashyap saw off Canada’s Jason Anthony Ho-Shue 21-15, 21-17 to set up a pre-quarterfinal match against Japan’s Kanta Tsuneyama. The event is important for Kashyap as the longer he stays in the tournament, it will help him to garner valuable ranking points.
In men’s doubles, the pair of Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy prevailed over Chinese Taipei’s Chen Hung Ling and Wang Chi-Lin 21-18, 15-21, 21-17 to reach the pre-quarterfinals.
However, it was curtains for Swiss Open champion Sameer Verma and young Vaishnavi Reddy Jakka in their respective opening round matches.
Sameer lost 18-21, 16-21 to Thailand’s Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk, while Vaishnavi was shown the door by eighth seed Sayaka Sato of Japan after notching up a 21-13, 21-17 win over the Indian.
Also bowing out of the tournament was rising men’s doubles pair of Arjun MR and Ramchandran Shlok after losing 18-21, 21-13, 16-21 to Wahyu Nayaka Arya Pangkaryanira and Ade Yusuf Santoso of Indonesia.
Another men’s pair of M Anilkumar Raju and Venkat Gaurav Prasad also put up a fight before going down 21-14, 12-21, 14-21 to Chung Yonny and Tam Chun Hei of Hong Kong.
At a glance (singles only)
PV Sindhu bt Linda Zetchiri 21-8, 21-15
HS Prannoy bt Pablo Abian 21-16, 21-19
P Kashyap bt Jason Anthony 21-15, 21-17
Sameer Verma lost to Saensomboonsuk 18-21, 16-21
Vaishnavi Reddy Jakka lost to Sayaka Sato 13-21, 17-21