Sindhu, Srikanth in second round, Prannoy, Sen beat higher ranked opponents
Star Indian shuttler PV Sindhu had to fight hard to get past Denmark’s Line Kristoffersen in the women’s singles opening round of the Malaysia Masters, while Lakshya Sen lost to world number four Loh Keen of Singapore in the men’s singles of the Malaysia Masters on Wednesday. defeated u.
Sixth seed Sindhu battled for an hour and two minutes to see off Kristoffersen 21-13 17-21 21-18 and maintain her dominance over the world number one. 33 the Dane, whom the Indian had previously defeated four times.
The two-time Olympic medalist Indian, ranked 13th in the world, will next take on Japan’s Aya Ohori.
World No. 22 Sen got the better of seventh seed Yu 21-10 16-21 21-9 in three games in a hard-fought 32-match affair that lasted 55 minutes. Sen will face Hong Kong’s Ng Ka Long Angus in the pre-quarterfinals.
Earlier, HS Prannoy stunned world number six Tien Chen Chou of Chinese Taipei with a brilliant performance. World no. No. 9 Prannoy came from a game down to beat sixth-ranked Chow 16-21 21-14 21-13 to enter the pre-quarterfinals.
Pranay will next face China’s Shi Feng Li.
The other Indian man to enter the second round was Kidambi Srikanth, who beat France’s Toma Junior Popov 21-12 21-16.
He will next face eighth seed Kunlavut Witidsarn of Thailand.
However, it was over for qualifiers Ashmita Chaliha, Aakarshi Kashyap and Malvika Bansod in the women’s singles competition as they suffered straight game defeats in the opening round.
Ashmita lost 17-21 7-21 to fourth seed Yu Han of China while Aakarshi was ousted 17-21 12-21 by top seed Japanese Akane Yamaguchi.
Malvika was no match for second seed Xie Yi Wang of China as she lost 11-21 13-21.
