Malaysia Masters: Smooth sailing for Sindhu, Srikanth
Sai Praneeth defeated Malaysia's Shahzan Shah Misfahul 21-13, 21-15.
Penang (Malaysia): Indian shuttlers including P.V. Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth made a rousing start to the new season, reaching the second round of the USD 120,000 Malaysia Masters Grand Prix Gold here on Wednesday.
Sindhu, Srikanth, Ajay Jayaram, Subhankar Dey, B. Sai Praneeth and Sameer Verma outclassed their opponents in the opening round of their respective singles event, while the pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa notched up a stunning win to make their way into the women’s doubles second round.
A little over two weeks after their stints at the Premier Badminton League, the Indian shuttlers rushed to participate in the first Grand Prix Gold event of the season and it was a fruitful outing in the opening round.
Two-time World Championships bronze-medallist Sindhu, seeded third, thrashed Switzerland’s Sabrina Jaquet 21-17, 21-16 in a 33-minute battle while 2014 China Open winner Srikanth brushed aside Malaysia’s Wei Feng Chong 21-17, 21-11.
Ajay Jayaram, the 10th seed, who had a good outing for Delhi Acers at PBL, sent Japan’s Takuma Ueda packing 21-19, 21-11 while Sameer stunned Japan’s Sho Sasaki, seeded 12th, 21-18, 21-18 in another men’s singles match.
Sai Praneeth defeated Malaysia’s Shahzan Shah Misfahul 21-13, 21-15, while new kid Subhankar too, notched up a 21-19, 21-16 win over Thailand’s Kantaphon Wangcharoen in another men’s singles clash.
The 2010 Commonwealth Games champions Jwala and Ashwini also showed their prowess, edging out the Malaysian combo of Mei Kuan Chow and Lee Meng Yean 21-14, 14-21, 25-23 in a 54-minute hard-fought clash.