Tokyo, July 24 (IANS) Ace Indian shuttler P.V. Sindhu kicked off her Japan Open campaign on an emphatic note as she registered a comprehensive victory over China's Yue Han in her first-round clash of the $750,000 tournament.
The Olympic silver medallist needed just 37 minutes to defeat Han 21-9, 21-17 in her opening match on Wednesday. Fifth-seeded Sindhu will now face Japan's Aya Ohori -- whom she had recently defeated in the Indonesia Open -- in the second round.
However, there was disappointment for Kidambi Srikanth as he bowed out of the men's singles event after suffering a stunning defeat to compatriot H.S. Prannoy in his first-round match. Prannoy defeated Srikanth 13-21, 21-11, 22-20 in a match that lasted for an hour.
Unseeded Sameer Verma also crashed out of the tournament after suffering a 21-17, 21-12 defeat to Denmark's Anders Antonsen in his match.
In men's double event, the Indian duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty progressed to the next round after defeating Britain's Marcus Ellis and Chris Langridge 21-16, 21-17 in 43 minutes.
In mixed doubles, Pranaav Jerry Chopra and Reddy N. Sikki also crashed out of the tournament after losing their opening match 11-21, 14-21 to Chinese pair of Zhend Si Wei and Huang Ya Qiaong in less than 30 minutes.
In women's doubles, Ashwini Ponappa and Reddy N. Sikki lost 16-21, 14-21 to South Korea's kong Hee Yong and Kim So Yeong to make exit.
On Thursday, B. Sai Praneeth, who shocked Japan's Kento Nishimoto in the opening round, will compete with Kanta Tsuneyama of Japan while Prannoy will lock horns with Rasmus Gemke of Denmark.
In mixed doubles, Ashwini Ponappa and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy will be competing against Thailand's Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Sapsiree Taerattanachai in their second-round contest.
About Gopi
Gopi Adusumilli is a Programmer. He is the editor of SocialNews.XYZ and President of AGK Fire Inc.
He enjoys designing websites, developing mobile applications and publishing news articles on current events from various authenticated news sources.
When it comes to writing he likes to write about current world politics and Indian Movies. His future plans include developing SocialNews.XYZ into a News website that has no bias or judgment towards any.
He can be reached at gopi@socialnews.xyz