Saina, Kashyap win; Chopra-Sikki lose

Lucknow, November 21 

Defending champions Pranaav Jerry Chopra and N Sikki Reddy crashed out in the mixed doubles opening round but Saina Nehwal and Parupalli Kashyap notched up easy wins to make a positive start at the Syed Modi World Tour Super 300 here on Wednesday. Top seeds Chopra and Sikki lost 14-21 11-21 to China’s Ren Xiangyu and Zhou Chaomin in just 31 minutes.

Second-seeded Saina, who has won the Lucknow tournament thrice in the past, thrashed Mauritius’ Kate Foo Kune 21-10 21-10, while Kashyap disposed of Thailand’s Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk 21-14 21-12. Sai Praneeth also crossed the opening hurdle, beating Russia’s Sergey Sirant 21-12 21-10.  Subhankar Dey, who won his maiden title at SaarLorLux Open recently, beat Sweden’s Felix Burestedt 21-15 21-13.

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Ashwini Ponnappa, seeded sixth, also notched up a 21-10 21-10 win over compatriots Krishna Prasad Garaga and Rutaparna Panda in the mixed doubles opening round. —  PTI