Indonesia Masters: Lakshya Sen, Saina Nehwal advance; Kidambi crashes out

Jakarta [Indonesia], January 25 (ANI): India's ace players Lakshya Sen and Saina Nehwal advanced to the second round of the Indonesia Masters 2023 in Jakarta on Wednesday but Kidambi Srikanth made a first-round exit.
Commonwealth Games champion Lakshya Sen hardly broke a sweat and defeated Japanese shuttler Kodai Naraoka by a 21-12, 21-11 scoreline in his men's singles round of 32 match.
In the round of 16, the seventh-seeded Lakshya Sen will go up against Malaysia's NG Tze Yong, who ousted Denmark's Hans-Kristian Solberg Vittinghus in straight games in his first-round match.
Meanwhile, Shesar Hiren Rhustavito of Indonesia defeated former world No. 1 Kidambi Srikanth 21-10, 24-22. The Indian shuttler, who finished second in the world championships, has lost in the opening round of the three events he participated in this year: the Malaysia Open, the India Open, and the current Indonesia Masters.
The eighth seed in men's singles HS Prannoy crashed out after losing to Japan's Kanta Tsuneyama 19-21, 10-21.
In women's singles, Olympic medallist Saina Nehwal also crossed her first round hurdle after downing Chinese Taipei's Pai Yu Po 21-15, 17-21, 21-15.
The Indian easily defeated her opponent in the first game but lost the second after blowing an 8-0 lead. The eighth-seed Yue Han will be Saina Nehwal's opponent in the decider.
Malvika Bansod made an early exit from the women's singles competition after losing 15-21, 13-21 to Thailand's Ratchanok Intanon. (ANI)