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PV Sindhu stuns Putri Kusuma Wardani at Singapore Open, advances to face Riko Gunji as most other Indian shuttlers exit early.
PV Sindhu will take on Riko Gunji in the second round of Singapore Open (Picture credit: Badminton Photo)
Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu on Tuesday beat fifth-seed Putri Kusuma Wardani in straight games at the Singapore Open, to move comfortably into the second round in the tournament, while pulling off a statement win.
Coming into the contest, Wardani, from Indonesia, was the expected winner but Sindhu ensured that her experience came to the fore. The former was also leading their head-to-head battle 3-2, but the duo’s last encounter had happened last year and Sindhu looked to have come a long way from then.
In the opening game, Sindhu trailed 11-15 before producing a strong comeback, winning 10 of the next 12 points to seal the game 21-15.
Although the second game was a close one, Sindhu managed to eke out a narrow 21-18 win and set up a second-round contest against Japan’s Riko Gunji. This will be the first-ever encounter between the two.
Sindhu has come into the Singapore Open on the back of a quarterfinal finish at the Thailand Open, where she lost in a three-game thriller to Akane Yamaguchi. The former also finished as a semifinalist at the Malaysia Open earlier this year.
Meanwhile, it was an otherwise disappointing day for Indians in Singapore. The women’s doubles duo of Ashwini Bhat and Shikha Gautam lost in straight games to Chinese Taipei’s Chang Ching Hui and Yang Ching Tun.
The mixed doubles pair of Rohan Kapoor and Ruthvika Shivani went down in straight games to Chinese Taipei’s Yang Po-Hsuan and Hu Ling Fang, while Unnati Hooda also suffered a straight-games loss to eighth seed Tomoka Miyazaki.
The women’s doubles pair of Kavipriya Selvam and Simran Singhi suffered a three-game loss to Spain’s Paula Lopez and Lucia Rodriguez. In men’s doubles, Hariharan Amsakarunan and MR Arjun went down in straight games to seventh seeds Takuro Hoki and Yugo Kobayashi.
Ayush Shetty lost in three games to Canada’s Victor Lai. Fourth seeds Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty were the only other winners of the day besides Sindhu, as they beat the USA’s Chen Zhi Yi and Presley Smith.
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