Indonesia Open Superseries - Results Day 1

Saina progressed to the next round

It was a mixed opening day for the Indian shuttlers at the $800,000 BCA Indonesia Open Superseries Premier tournament. In singles, star shuttlers Saina Nehwal, Parupalli Kashyap and Kidambi Srikanth progressed to the second round, whereas Indian teenage badminton sensation P.V Sindhu was knocked out in the opening round.

While World No.1 Saina registered a comprehensive 21-16, 21-18 victory over World number 27 Thai girl Nichaon Jindapon, World No.12 Kashyap overcame another Thai Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk 21-17, 21-7 in just 29 minutes.

In the doubles section, experienced Indian pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponappa and young pair of Prannav Jerry Chopra and Akshay Dewalkar entered the next round whereas Manu Attri and B. Sumeeth Reddy took an early exit.

Saina was looking confident against her lower ranked opponent from the start of the opening game as she took a strong 7-point lead before the mid game interval. She played long rallies and accumulated points with her better net play. With such a huge lead in hand, the 25-year old Hyderabadi faced absolutely no difficulty in closing the opening game 21-16.

The second game was a lot more evenly contested as both the players were fighting hard for each and every point. Trailing by 14-16, Jindapon bounced back to grab the next three points in a row to take a one point lead. Saina kept her nerves at the crucial stage of the game as she reeled off three points in quick succession from 18-all to draw the curtains on the challenge of the 27-year old Thai shuttler.

Saina, who lost in the quarterfinals of the Australia Open Superseries last week will now take on the Taipei girl Hsu Ya Ching. World number 26 Ching defeated World No. 14 and two-time World Championships bronze medalist Indian ace P.V Sindhu in the opener. This will be the first meeting between these two players.

Kashyap, who was having a win-loss record of 2-4 against the World No. 17 Tanongsak prior to this match looked in supreme touch as he didn’t give his opponent a single chance to come close. With a perfect combination of down the line smashes and deft-net shots, Kashyap faced absolutely no difficulty in wrapping up the match.

He will now take on the World No. 5 Korean shuttler Wan Ho Son for a place in the quarters.

4th seed and 2015 India Open superseries winner Kidambi Srikanth survived a scare against the World number 15 Danish shuttler Hans Kristian Vittinghus on his way to the men’s singles second round. Srikanth lost the opening game by a scoreline of 11-21, but he made a remarkable comeback to clinch the next one 21-14.

The 22-year old Indian saved one match point in the decider and then grabbed the next two points in a row to win the game 24-22. He will now play the qualifier and local boy Ginting Anthony for a place in the last eight.

19-year old Sindhu gave a tough fight before going down 16-21, 21-15, 21-14 to Ching in the first round. This was second consecutive defeat for Sindhu in the opening round as she lost to Wang Yihan of China 18-21, 21-15, 25-23 in the opening round of the Australian Open last week.

There was some good news in the men’s doubles section as well. Young Indian pair of Prannav Jerry Chopra and Akshay Dewalkar, who are ranked 34th in the world defeated the World No. 41 Canadian pair of Adrian Liu and Derrick NG 21-17, 22-20 in a first round match which lasted for 34 minutes.

Another Indian men’s doubles pair of Manu Attri and B. Sumeeth Reddy lost to the 4th seeded Taipei pair of Lee Sheng Mu and Tsai Chia Hsin 13-21, 11-21 in the first round.

In the women’s doubles, World no. 21 and 2011 World Championships bronze medalist pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponappa got the better of World ranked 39 Taipei pair of Pai Yu Po and Ya Ching 21-17, 19-21, 21-11 in a 41-minute clash.