H S Prannoy was beaten in the opening round, but compatriots Lakshya Sen and Saina Nehwal made impressive starts at the Indonesia Masters Super 500 badminton tournament, advancing to the second round with contrasting victories, in Jakarta, on Wednesday.
World No. 12 Sen, who had a subdued start to the new season following early exits from Malaysia and India in the last two weeks, dished out a superlative performance to outwit Japan's new sensation Kodai Naraoka, ranked No. 7, 21-12, 21-11 in his opening match.
London Games bronze medallist Saina, who reached the second round at the India Open, scored a 21-15, 17-21, 21-15 win over Chinese Taipei's Pai Yu Po to make it to the pre-quarter-finals.
Seventh seeded Sen, the reigning Commonwealth Games gold medallist, will face Malaysia's Ng Tze Yong next, while former world No. 1 Saina takes on Chinese eighth seed Han Yue.
World No. 9 Prannoy suffered a second successive first-round exit, losing 19-21, 10-21 to Japan's Kanta Tsuneyama. He reached the semi-finals of the Malaysia Super 1000 but lost in the opening round of the India Open last week.
Former world No. 1 Kidambi Srikanth also exited after blowing a 18-15 lead and two game-points in the second game and lost 10-21, 22-24 to Indonesia’s Shesar Hiren Rhustavitoin 39 minutes.
Priyanshu Rajawat also couldn't extend his entry into the main draw, going down 21-18, 18-21, 18-21 to Chico Aura Dwi Wardoyo of Indonesia in the first round.
In the women's singles, Malvika Bansod was no match for fifth seeded Thai Ratchanok Intanon, losing 15-21, 13-21, while Aakarshi Kashyap bowed out after 17-21, 15-21 loss to Spain’s Clara Azurmendi.
The mixed doubles pair of Ishaan Bhatnagar and Tanisha Crasto also couldn't cross the opening hurdle, losing 16-21, 15-21 to the third seed French combination of Thom Gicquel and Delphine Delrue.
Rohan kapoor and N Sikki Reddy also fell by the wayside, losing 21-12, 21-23, 16-21 to Indonesia's Jafar Hidayatullah and Aisyah Salsabila Putri Pranata.
