Badminton Asia Championships | Sindhu advances to the second round; Saina crashes out
It has turned out to be a mixed day for Indian badminton as PV Sindhu entered the second round of the Championships while Saina Nehwal lost her opening round game. In the men's singles, Ajay Jayaram faced a tough battle against Tian Houwei but ended up winning the game 21-18, 18-21, 21-19.
Sindhu, the 2014 Badminton Asia Championships bronze medalist, took just a little more than half an hour to get the better of her unseeded Indonesian opponent Dinar Dyah Ayustine 21-8, 21-18 in the first round match at the Wuhan Sports Center Gymnasium today (Wednesday).
On the other hand, Saina endured a three-setter before eventually going down to unseeded Sayaka Sato of Japan 21-19, 16-21, 18-21. Seventh seed Saina had a 6-1 head-to-head record over Sato before this clash but the lady luck didn't favour her after a one hour and eight minutes contest.
In the men's singles, Ajay Jayaram emerged victorious against Chinese fifth seed Tian Houwei 21-18, 18-21, 21-19.
Sindhu and Jayaram were the only successes for India on the day as other shuttlers failed to progress to the next round. The mixed doubles pair of Pranaav Jerry Chopra and N Sikki Reddy put up a valiant effort against Chinese top seeds Zheng Siwei and Chen Qingchen, but ended up losing 15-21, 21-14, 16-21
In the women's doubles category, Ashwini Ponnappa and Sikki lost 20-22, 16-21 to the South Korean pair of Chae Yoo Jung and Kim So Yeong.
The men's doubles pair of Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy also disappointed as Chinese fifth-seeded pair of Fu Haifeng and Zhang Nan emphatically crushed them for a 21-9, 21-18 victory.
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