Hong Kong Open: PV Sindhu, HS Prannoy sail through
India's star female shuttler PV Sindhu sailed into the second round of the Hong Kong Open. The ace shuttler beat Korea's Kim Ga Eun 21-15, 21-16 in straight games. Men's singles player HS Prannoy also beat China's Huan Yu Xiang 21-17, 21-17. However, former world number one Saina Nehwal crashed out early on. Here are the details.
Sindhu alive in the tourney, Saina's horrible run continues
Sindhu's match lasted 36 minutes as she dominated the show. She will next face Thailand's Busanan Ongbamrungphan. Sindhu keeps the Indian challenge alive in women's singles after Saina Nehwal's elimination at the hands of China's Cai Yan Yan earlier in the day. This was Saina's fifth exit in the first round itself in the last six tournaments. Saina lost 13-21, 20-22.
Sindhu has been plagued by poor form since World Championships
After winning the BWF World Championships in August, Sindhu has been plagued by poor run fo form. She faced two early exits in China (2nd round at the Victor China Open and 1st round at the Fuzhou China Open). She also exited from the first and second rounds at the Korea and Denmark Open respectively. She reached the quarters at the French Open.
Sindhu opens up on her recent run of form
This week, the 24-year-old Sindhu said the defeats will make her stronger. "I've been playing OK, I don't have much to complain about, that I was mentally low or anything. Even though I had a few losses, it will just make me much stronger and I think that I need to come back again and work harder," she said to BWF's official website.
Prannoy joins Srikanth and other crucial results
Meanwhile, Prannoy became the second Indian to qualify for the second round of men's singles along with Kidambi Srikanth, who got a walkover after world number one Kento Momota withdrew from the tournament. There was a defeat for Sameer Verma, who lost against Tzu Wei Wang 11-21, 21-13, 8-21. Women's doubles pair of Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy lost their opener as well.
