Australia Super Series 2017 | Saina and Sindhu progress to the second round
Saina Nehwal defeated Sung Ji Hyun in straight games of 21-10 21-16 while PV Sindhu overcame Sayaka Sato 21-17, 14-21, 21-18 in the first round. In the men's single, Srikanth Kidambi thrashed Taipei Kan Chao Yu 21-13, 21-16 while Sai Praneeth clinched a win against Tommy Sugiarto.
Saina Nehwal eased past fourth seed Sung Ji Hyun of Korea to win her opening match of the tournament in straight games of 21-10 21-16 to progress to the second round of the tournament.
Meanwhile, PV Sindhu faced a tough challenge in her matchup against Indonesia Super Series winner Sayaka Sato in the first round. Sindhu clinched the first game 21-17 but the Japanese clawed her way back into the match by winning the second 21-14 to level things up. In the decider, both the shuttlers played some splendid badminton to keep the game tied at 7-7. However, Sindhu surged ahead to take an 11-9 lead at the break which she extended to 20-15 after the resumption. Sato did not submit easily and once again tried to make a comeback, winning three consecutive points to reduce the deficit to two points at 20-18. Sindhu showed nerves of steel to edge past the Japenese and progress to the second round of the tournament.
India's Ruthvika Shivani Gadde ended her campaign in the Australian Super Series with a first round defeat of 21-17, 12-21, 21-12 at the hands of Chinese Chen Xiaoxin.
In the men's singles category, Srikanth Kidambi carried his winning momentum from the Indonesia Open Super Series to Sydney as he eased past Taipei star Kan Chao Yu 21-13, 21-16 to progress to the pre-quarterfinals of the Australian Open where he will face the top-seed Son Wan Ho. Meanwhile, Sai Praneeth had to toil hard to get his first win of the tournament when he went up against Indonesia's Tommy Sugiarto to eventually defeat him 10-21, 21-12, 21-10.
However, it was curtains for Indonesia Open semi-finalist HS Prannoy who lost his first round match to England's Rajiv Ouseph 19-21, 13-21 to make an early exit. Ajay
In men's doubles category the resurgent duo of Satwiksairaj and Chirag Shetty beat Law Him and Lee Reginald 22-20, 21-19, 21-11 to progress to the second round. On the other hand, Francis Alwin and Tarun Kona lost in the opening round 17-21, 15-21 to Hendra Setiawan Boon Heong Tan while Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy also faced 20-22, 6-21 defeat by third seeds Takeshi Kamura Keigo Sonoda of Japan.
