Raising Hopes of Victory! Six Indians Progress to Second Round of #Australian Open

Melbourne, June 6: Indian badminton players have raised hopes of victory in Australian open as top shuttlers P.V. Sindhu, Sameer Varma, B. Sai Praneeth and P Kashyap progressed to the second round in singles.

 

The 2018 World Champion and World No. Five P. V. Sindhu defeated Indonesia’s Choirunnisa 21-14, 21-9 in a lop-sided contest in women’s singles. Sixth Seed Sameer won over Malaysia’s Lee Zii Jia 21-15, 16-21, 21-12 in a thrilling open round men’s single match while Singapore Open Champion B Sai Praneeth beat Korea’s Lee Don Keun 21-16, 21-14. Former Commonwealth Games champion Parupalli kashyap also cleared the opening hurdle by winning over Thailands’ Suppanyu Avihingsanon 21-16, 21-15. However, India’s Prannoy went down 18-21, 19-21 against China’s Lin Dan.

 

Indian players showed a mixed performance in doubles. In men’s doubles, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty defeated their compatriots Manu Attri and B Sumeet Reddy 21-12, 21-16 to advance to the second round. However, Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy lost 14-21, 13-21 against their Korean opponents Baek Ha Na and Kim Hye Rin.

 

In the second round, P V Sindhu will meet Thai Nitchaon Jindapol, Sameer will take on China’s Wang Tzu Wei, Sai Praneeth will square off against Indonesia’s Anthony Sinisuka and Purupalli Kashyap will cross swords with Lin Dan.