BASEL: Indian shuttler and Olympic medalist PV Sindhu advanced to the second round of women’s competition in the ongoing Swiss Open while Lakshya Sen crashed out of the men’s singles competition at Basel on Wednesday.
Sindhu, the reigning champion overcame Switzerland’s Jenjira Stadelmann 21-9, 21-16 in a 32-minute match. Her next match will be against Indonesia’s Putri Kusuma Wardani.
On the other hand, Commonwealth Games 2022 gold medalist Lakshya Sen, the world number 25 in the latest rankings, bowed out of the competition after the first round itself after a loss to Hong Kong’s Cheuk Yiu Lee, ranked 19th by 21-18, 21-11.
Former world number 1 Kidambi Srikanth advanced to the next round after a fighting win over China’s Weng Hong Yang 21-16, 15-21, 21-18 and set up a second-round clash against Cheuk Yiu Lee.
In another men’s singles match, fifth-seeded HS Prannoy overcame the challenge from China’s Shi Yu Qi with a 21-17, 19-21, 21-17 in a closely fought tie that lasted an hour.
Earlier, Mithun Manjunath registered a two-game win over Netherlands’ Joran Kweekel by 21-8, 21-17, advancing to the men’s singles pre-quarters, where he will face Chinese Taipei’s Chia Hao Lee next.
In the women’s singles competition, Malvika Bansod registered a loss to Korea’s Kim Ga Eun by 21-14, 21-15 in two straight games while Aakarshi Kashyap lost to Germany’s Yvonne Li by 21-15, 21-17.
Kiran George registered a loss in his men’s singles match as well.
In the women’s doubles competition, the Indian pair of N Sikki Reddy and Arathi Sara Sunil bowed out of the competition after a loss to Japan’s Sayaka Hobara and Yui Suizu by 12-21, 14-21. Reddy also lost her mixed doubles match with Rohan Kapoor.
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, the top Indian men’s doubles pair, kept India’s medal hopes alive by defeating the Malaysian pair of Xin Yuan Boon and Tien Ci Wong 21-15, 21-18 in the first round.
The competition will take place from March 21 to March 26. (ANI)