China Open | PV Sindhu advances to second round as Ashwini Ponappa/ N Sikki Reddy crashes out

China Open | PV Sindhu advances to second round as Ashwini Ponappa/ N Sikki Reddy crashes out

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Indian ace PV Sindhu started strong by dismantling Russia's Evgeniya Kosetskaya in straight games 21-13, 21-19 to advance to the second round. In doubles, the pairing of Ashwini Ponnappa and N. Sikki Reddy lost in a gruelling encounter against Japanese pair of Shiho Tanaka and Koharu Yonemoto.

Third-seeded PV Sindhu cruised into the second round of the China Open Tournament beating Russian opponent Evgeniya Kosetskaya 21-13, 21-19. The one-sided match was over in under 30 minutes in straight games. The Olympic silver medallist will now take on unseeded Busanan Ongbamrungphan of Thailand in the second round.

It was an easy beginning for Sindhu who took an early lead in the first game of the match and was leading 11-7 at the break. Thereafter, Kostetskaya was able to add only six points as Sindhu bagged ten and ended the first game 21-13. The second game was a much closer affair with it going to the wire but here too, Sindhu eventually came on the top winning 21-19.

In other encounters for India, the women’s doubles pair of Ashwini Ponnappa and N.Sikki Reddy lost their match 21-19, 15-21, 21-17 to the Japanese pair of Shiho Tanaka and Koharu Yonemoto to exit the tournament. The first game between the Indian and Japanese pairs was a neck-to-neck encounter in which the maximum point difference at any point of the game was only three points but at the end, the Indians lost the game 19-21.

In the second game, the Indian pair came back stronger and blew away their opponents 21-15. The match crossed the one hour mark in the third and deciding game in which the Japanese overcame the Indian challenge 21-17 taking the game and the match. In another encounter, the men’s doubles pairing of Attri Manu and B. Sumeet Reddy lost their match 21-16, 27-15 against the Danish pair of Kim Ashtrup and Anders Skaarup Rasmusse.

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