Rediff.com« Back to articlePrint this article

Saina, Sindhu, Prannoy advance; Srikanth bows out

Last updated on: January 08, 2020 19:33 IST

H S Prannoy, ranked 26th in the world, took 34 minutes to send World No 10 Kanta packing with a 21-9, 21-17 win in the first round match.

H S Prannoy

IMAGE: H S Prannoy will take on World No 1 and top seed Japanese Kento Momota in the second round. Photograph: BAI Media/Twitter

H S Prannoy stunned World No 10 Kanta Tsuneyama while ace Indian women shuttlers PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal also sailed into the second round of the Malaysia Masters, in Kuala Lumpur, on Wednesday.

 

Prannoy, ranked 26th in the world, took 34 minutes to send Tsuneyama packing with a 21-9, 21-17 win in the first round match.

Prannoy, however, runs into World No 1 and top seed Japanese Kento Momota, who has been in red-hot form, in the second round on Thursday.

Momota defeated another Indian Parupalli Kashyap 21-17, 21-16 in a 43-minute first round match.

World Championships bronze-medallist B Sai Praneeth and the seasoned Kidambi Srikanth, though, bowed out of the men's singles events.

Saina Nehwal

IMAGE: Saina Nehwal completed a comfortable win to move into the second round. Photograph: BAI Media/Twitter

World champion Sindhu, seeded sixth, took just 35 minutes to beat Evgeniya Kosetskaya of Russia 21-15, 21-13 in the women's singles first round that lasted 35 minutes. She will take on Aya Ohori of Japan in the second round on Thursday.

The other Indians in the fray, London Olympics bronze medallist Saina needed just 36 minutes to get the better of Belgium's Lianne Tan.

The unseeded Saina brushed aside Tan 21-15, 21-17 in the first meeting between the two players.

Both Sindhu and Saina have struggled recently, making a series of early exits with the former failing to defend the World Tour Finals crown last month.

Earlier, Praneeth made a first round exit after going down tamely to Denmark's Rasmus Gemke 11-21, 15-21 while Srikanth lost to Chinese Taipei's Chou Tien Chen 17-21, 5-21 in only 30 minutes.

© Copyright 2024 PTI. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of PTI content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent.