Winning start for PV Sindhu, Saina Nehwal, Kidambi Srikanth at Swiss Open; Satwik-Chirag stun All England champions  

PV Sindhu, Saina Nehwal, Ashmita Chaliha, Kidambi Srikanth, Parupalli Kashyap, Sameer Verma, and HS Prannoy made a winning start in the Swiss Open in Basel on Wednesday.

Second-seed PV Sindhu thumped Line Højmark Kjaersfeldt of Denmark in straight games to enter the second round. The world No. 7 PV Sindhu needed 37 minutes to register a fluent 21-14, 21-12 victory against the Danish girl.

Double Olympic medalist Sindhu was always in control against world No. 32 Kjaersfeldt as she displayed a brilliant all-round display in both the games.

PV Sindhu will now take on Neslihan Yigit of Turkey in the second round on Thursday. Sindhu has a 4-0 record against the world No. 30 Yigit.

PV Sindhu completes hat-trick of wins against Kjaersfeldt

This was PV Sindhu’s third successive win against Kjaersfeldt, the earlier two coming more than five years ago.

Apart from PV Sindhu, Saina Nehwal and Ashmita Chaliha also advanced to the second round in the women's singles event. However, Malvika Bansod and Aakarshi Kashyap failed to cross the first-round hurdle.

London Olympics bronze medalist Saina outclassed Yaelle Hoyaux 21-8, 21-13 in her opening round fixture.

Southpaw Ashmita Chaliha recorded a come-from-behind win over France’s Leonice Huet, prevailing with a 19-21, 21-10, 21-11 score.

PV Sindhu advanced to the second round at the Swiss Open (File Photo)

Fruitful day for the Indian men’s singles players

Seventh-seed Kidambi Srikanth, HS Prannoy, Parupalli Kashyap, and Sameer Verma made the perfect start in the men’s singles competition.

World No. 12 Srikanth dismissed Mads Christophersen in straight games. The experienced Indian star downed the Danish player 21-16, 21-17 in a match lasting 32 minutes.

Parupalli Kashyap too cruised to a 21-17, 21-9 win over France’s Enogat Roy to enter the second round.

In an all-India contest, in-form HS Prannoy pipped B Sai Praneeth 25-23, 21-16 in a tight match lasting 48 minutes.

There were some setbacks for India as the mixed-doubles duo of Ashwini Ponnappa and Sumeeth Reddy lost their first-round match. After reaching the semis at the All England Open, women’s doubles combine of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand bowed out in the first round.

Satwiksairaj and Chirag upset newly-crowned All England champions

Third-seeds Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy upset Indonesia's Muhammad Shohibul Fikri and Bagas Maulana. The Indian duo clinched the match after losing the first game in the men's doubles opening round.

World No. 7 Satwik and Chirag won 17-21, 21-11, 21-18. Fikri and Maulana had won the All England title on Sunday, after defeating two other Indonesian pairs of Sukamuljo and Gideon (top-seeds) and Ahsan and Setiawan (second seeds) en route to the title.

Ishaan Bhatnagar and K Sai Pratheek rallied back splendidly to oust Rory Easton and Zach Russ of England 28-30, 21-14, 21-18 in 63 minutes.

It was the second straight win for World No. 81 Ishaan Bhatnagar and Sai Pratheek over their English opponents. The Indian duo had defeated the world No. 72 pair at the Polish International last year.

The Chinese badminton team pulled out of the Super 300 tournament, which began on Tuesday, due to multiple COVID-19 cases and injuries to its players.

Indian Results (Round 1)

Men’s singles

Kidambi Srikanth bt Mads Christophersen (Denmark) 21-16, 21-17 (32 minutes)

HS Prannoy bt B Sai Praneeth 25-23, 21-16 (48 minutes)

Parupalli Kashyap bt Enogat Roy (France) 21-17, 21-9 (38 minutes)

Sameer Verma bt Lucas Claerbout (France) 18-21, 21-15, 21-11 (75 minutes)

Women’s singles

PV Sindhu bt Line Højmark Kjaersfeldt (Denmark) 21-14, 21-12 (37 minutes)

Saina Nehwal bt Yaelle Hoyaux (France) 21-8, 21-13 (31 minutes)

Ashmita Chaliha bt Léonice Huet (France) 19-21, 21-10, 21-11 (45 minutes)

Malvika Bansod lost to Qi Xuefei (France) 16-21, 17-21 (42 minutes)

Aakarshi Kashyap lost to Yvonne Li (Germany) 5-21, 17-21 (36 minutes)

Men’s doubles

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty bt Muhammad Shohibul Fikri-Bagas Maulana (Indonesia) 17-21, 21-11, 21-18 (57 minutes)

Ishaan Bhatnagar-K Sai Pratheek bt Rory Easton-Zach Russ (England) 28-30, 21-14, 21-18 (63 minutes)

MR Arjun-Dhruv Kapila lost to Fajar Alfian-Muhammad Rian Ardianto (Indonesia) 19-21, 13-21 (37 minutes)

Vasantha Kumar HR-Ashith Surya lost to Ben Lane-Sean Vendy (England) 14-21, 17-21 (32 minutes)

Women’s doubles

Ashwini Ponnappa-N Sikki Reddy bt Aline Muller-Jenjira Stadelmann (Switzerland) 21-15, 21-16 (35 minutes)

Treesa Jolly-Gayatri Gopichand Pullela lost to Jongkolphan Kititharakul-Rawinda Prajongjai (Thailand) 10-21, 17-21 (41 minutes)

Mixed doubles

B Sumeeth Reddy-Ashwini Ponnappa lost to Thom Gicquel-Delphine Delrue (France) 13-21, 9-21 (33 minutes).