Indonesia Masters 2022 | PV Sindhu and Lakshya Sen start with wins

06/08/2022

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Former world champion PV Sindhu and world championship bronze medalist Lakshya Sen started with wins in their opening-round matches at the Indonesia Masters 2022 in Jakarta on Wednesday. World no.7 Sindhu took three games to beat world no.22 Line Christophersen of Denmark 21-18, 15-21, 11-21.

Even though Sindhu took an early 8-3 lead in the first game, she could not keep up the intensity and conceded the opening game 18-21. Come the second game too, there wasn't much to separate the two, as the Indian just lead by one point at the mid-game interval at 11-10. The last game, however, was relatively one-sided as Sindhu managed to close it at 21-11.

This was her fourth win over Christophersen in as many matches. Now Sindhu will be up against world No. 30 Gregoria Mariska Tunjung of Indonesia in the round of 16 on Thursday. On the other hand, Sen started off in an emphatic fashion in the men's singles event. He beat world No. 21 Hans-Kristian Vittinghus of Denmark in straight games. He won 21-10, 21-18 to move into the second round.

This was Sen's first win over the Danish player. Now he will face another Danish player, world no.13 Rasmus Gemke in the pre-quarters.

Meanwhile, it wasn't a great day for other Indian shuttlers. Aakarshi Kashyap lost to world No. 16 and former Pan American champion Beiwen Zhang of the USA 21-12, 21-11 in the round of 32. World no. 30 Sameer Verma too lost his match against Indonesia's Chico Aura Dwi Wardoyo 21-17, 21-15.

Prior to this, Saina Nehwal, HS Prannoy, and Parupalli Kashyap pulled out before the start of the tournament.