Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu endured yet another first-round exit, but Lakshya Sen and the men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty moved into the second round with comfortable victories at the Japan Open here on Wednesday.
The 30-year-old Sindhu, who is a former world champion, went down 15-21, 14-21 to Korea’s Sim Yu Jin in the Super 750 tournament, marking her fifth Round One exit this year.
After a slow start, the Indian World No. 16, who appeared rusty and error-prone and struggled with judgment of length, showed some fight in the first game, but 14th-ranked Yu Jin regained control to claim her first career win over the Indian star.
In the second game, Sindhu quickly fell behind 1-6. Though she managed to level the score at 11-11, the Korean pulled away with ease to seal the match in straight games.
In men’s doubles, Rankireddy and Shetty defeated the Korean duo of Kang Min Hyuk and Kim Dong Ju 21-18, 21-10 in just 42 minutes.
The former world No. 1 pair took some time to settle in, with the Koreans matching them early in the first game.
But once the Indians found their rhythm, they were unstoppable, dominating the second game with clinical precision.
Meanwhile, Sen looked sharp as he dispatched China’s World No. 24 Wang Zheng Xing 21-11, 21-18.
The Indian World No. 18 was in complete control throughout the match, winning with minimal fuss.
PV’s Rd-1 blues
Indonesia Masters
(January 22) – lost to Vietnam’s Thuy Linh Nguyen 20-22, 12-21
All England Open
(March 12) – ousted by South Korea’s Kim Gaeun 21-19, 13-21, 13-21
Swiss Open (March 19) – outplayed by Denmark’s Julie Jakobsen 17-21, 19-21
Malaysia Masters
(May 21) – beaten by Vietnam’s Thuy Linh Nguyen 11-21, 21-14, 15-21
Japan Open (July 16) – succumbed to South Korea’s Sim Yu Jin 15-21, 14-21
This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
