French Open SS 2017: Srikanth Kidambi, Saina Nehwal, PV Sindhu enter second round

Wednesday proved to be a good day for the top Indian shuttlers at the $325, 000 Yonex French Open as Srikanth Kidambi, Saina Nehwal, PV Sindhu, HS Prannoy, Sai Praneeth all booked their berths in the second round at Stade Pierre de Coubertin in Paris. The men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and the women’s doubles duo of Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy also advanced to the second round.

Second seed Sindhu staved off a late surge from the 27th ranked Beatriz Corrales of Spain in each game to grind out a 21-19, 21-18 win in 35 minutes. In contrast, Saina could not prevent the 34th ranked Line Hojmark Kjaersfeldt from taking a game and needed 50 minutes to subdue the Dane with a 21-14, 11-21, 21-10 win.

Srikanth’s opponent retires

Srikanth Kidambi spent the least time on the court out of all the Indians for his opponent, World No. 45 Fabian Roth retired. The Denmark Open champion made a blazing start to his campaign and led 3-0 in the first game before the German called it quits.

Srikanth next meets the 15th ranked Wong Wing Ki Vincent whom he beat in the Denmark Open semi-finals last week.

Lee Chong Wei and Son Wan Ho crash out

World No. 14 HS Prannoy was outstanding in his first round and cut down on the errors that proved to be a bane in the Denmark Open quarter-finals last week. In 42 minutes, the US Open champion prevailed over the 2017 Denmark Open runner-up Lee Hyun Il, 21-15, 21-17 to set up a second round clash with the 25th ranked Hans-Kristian Solberg Vittinghus. The Dane caused a big upset by ousting the second seed Son Wan Ho in the first round.

Singapore Open winner B Sai Praneeth had a much tougher time on the court. Sai had to fight for 1 hour 5 minutes before he could pull off a narrow 21-13, 21-23, 21-19 win over the 35th ranked Khosit Phetpradab of Thailand. He goes on to meet the 40th ranked Japanese qualifier, Kenta Nishimoto, who sent the three-time champion and seventh seed Lee Chong Wei packing in the first round.

Commonwealth Games champion Parupalli Kashyap was not as lucky and he succumbed to a 23-21, 18-21, 17-21 defeat to the World No. 18 Anthony Sinisuka Ginting of Indonesia.

Double delight for India in doubles

Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy were brilliant in their first round match and registered a facile 21-12, 21-12 victory over the English pair of Jenny Moore and Victoria Williams. The two have an uphill task in the second round as the top seeds Misaki Matsutomo and Ayaka Takahashi are waiting for them.

The India No. 1 men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty had an equally easy time on the court and prevailed 21-12, 21-14 over the French combine of Bastian Kersaudy and Julien Maio. They next meet the sixth seeds Mads Conrad-Petersen and Mads Pieler Kolding of Denmark.

Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy crashed out with an 11-21, 13-21 loss to the Russian pair of Vladimir Ivanov and Ivan Sozonov.