Mix day for Indian shuttlers in Indonesia Open

Rio Olympic Silver medallist P.V. Sindhu and 2012 Olympic bronze medallist Saina Nehwal advanced to the second round while the mixed doubles pair of B. Sumeeth Reddy and Ashwini Ponnappa bowed out of the Indonesia Open Superseries Premier tournament here on Tuesday.

Saina edged past eighth-seed Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand in a three-set gruelling encounter. The Hyderabadi shuttler took around an hour to win 17-21, 21-18, 21-12.

On the other hand, it was an easy task for the Rio Olympic Bronze medallist Sindhu as the 21-year-old took 33 minutes to outplay her Thai opponent Pornpawee Chochuwong 21-12, 21-19.

In the first match, it seemed Intanon will outplay Saina easily when the Thai player defeated her in the first game. But in the second and third game, it was all Saina.

The 27-year-old shuttler displayed good strokes and court movements in the next two games to prevail over her opponent.

In a contrasting second match, Sindhu dominated right from the start. Although the fourth seed stretched the second game till the last point, it was the Indian shuttler who proved superior to clinch the match.

In the mixed doubles category, Reddy and Ponnappa also advanced as they defeated Irfan Fadhilah Weni Anggraini of Indonesia in straight sets. The Indians finished the match under 30 minutes to bag the issue 21-12, 21-9.

--IANS

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