PV Sindhu, HS Prannoy reach Hong Kong Open second round
PV Sindhu on Wednesday reached the second round of the Hong Kong Open with a 21-15, 21-16 win over Korea's Kim Ga Eun in the first round. In the men's singles, HS Prannoy also went through to the second round where he will face Indonesian world number 6 Jonathan Christie.
In a match that lasted 36 minutes, Sindhu was dominant. She led for much of the game and will next face Thailand's Busanan Ongbamrungphan on Wednesday. She thus keeps the Indian challenge alive in women's singles after Saina Nehwal's elimination at the hands of China's Cai Yan Yan earlier in the day. This is the former world no.1's fifth first round exit in the last six tournaments.
HS Prannoy beat China's Huan Yu Xiang 21-17, 21-17 to advance to the second round. He has faced Christie three times and has a 2-1 head to head record over him. He is the second Indian in the second round of men's singles alongwith Kidambi Srikanth, who got a walkover after world no.1 Kento Momota withdrew from the tournament.
Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy lost their first-round match against Denmark's Maiken Fruergaard and Sara Thygesen.
Earlier, Saina Nehwal, who has now crashed out of the ongoing Hong Kong Open after suffering a crushing straight-games defeat to China's Cai Yan Yan in her first-round contest.
Currently ranked 9 in the world rankings, Saina has now lost five of her last six tournaments in the opening round itself.
Saina failed to put up any fight against her Chinese opponent as she lost the match 13-21, 20-22 in just 30 minutes to bow out of the $400,000 tournament.
The eighth-seeded Indian was no match in the first game as she lost 13-212 to Cai.
