Saina, Srikanth sail through, Kashyap, Sindhu out

Sydney, May 27

Leading Indian shuttlers Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth won their first round matches in contrasting style at the Australian Open Super Series here on Wednesday.

While World No.1 Saina had it easy against 67th-ranked Cheah Lyddia Yi Yu of Malaysia, winning 21-12 21-10, World No. 4 Srikanth pipped Hans-Kristian Vittinghus 14-21 21-8 22-20 in a tough match lasting 53 minutes. However, PV Sindhu and Parupalli Kashyap made a first round exit, losing to their Chinese opponents.

Women’s doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponappa made a winning start with a relatively easy 21-13 21-13 victory over Dutch combine of Samantha Barning and Iris Tabeling. The Commonwealth Games champions face a tough task ahead as they will take on fourth seed Indonesian pair of Nitya Krishinda Maheswari and Greysia Polii on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Commonwealth Games singles champion Kashyap lost a marathon battle, lasting an hour and 21 minutes, to sixth seed Zhengming Wang. The Chinese won 24-26 21-18 22-20 to take a 5-1 career lead over the Hyderabadi.

Sindhu also lost a tough fight against former World Champion Yihan Wang. The eighth-seed Chinese lost the first game 18-21, but came out stronger to win the next two 21-15 25-23 to take a 4-1 career lead over the World No.12.

South Korean mixed doubles pair of Choi Solgyu and Eom Hye Won beat Pranaav Chopra and Ashwini, who lost 19-21 14-21. — Agencies