By Our Special Correspondent
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, a two-time Olympic medalist, defeated Lauren Lam of US 21-19, 19-21, 21-18 at the Impact Arena. The first game saw an even contest between Sindhu, the world No 7 in current badminton rankings, and Lauren, ranked 55 places below the Indian. 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.
The American shuttler led the Indian 11-9 at the first break but Sindhu, with six consecutive points, snatched back the momentum. The Indian badminton ace was stunned in the second game as Lauren mounted a comeback to stretch the match to a decider. Sindhu kept her nose ahead in the third game and eventually won the contest in 59 minutes.
The World number 11 Indian will next face Ireland’s Nhat Nguyen, who defeated Hans-Kristian Solberg Vittinghus of Denmark 21-12 23-21 in the first round. 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.
In men's singles, world No 11 Kidambi Srikanth won against European Games silver medalist Brice Leverdez after going down in the first game. The 29-year old Srikanth, who helped India win Thomas Cup, last week, defeated the French shuttler 18-21, 21-10, 21-16.
The mixed doubles pair of B Sumeeth Reddy and Ashwini Ponnappa also suffered a first round exit, losing to the eighth-seeded Japanese duo of Yuki Kaneko and Misaki Matsutomo 17-21 17-21 in 34 minutes.
With this win, Srikanth kept his unbeaten run against the Frenchman intact and now leads him 5-0 in the head-to-head record. The world championship silver medalist Srikanth will now take on world No 42 Nhat Nguyen of Ireland in the second round on Thursday.
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