Shuttlers Sindhu, Srikanth advance in Chinese Taipei Open

Indian shuttlers P.V. Sindhu, Kidambi Srikanth and Sameer Verma on Wednesday advanced to the second round of their respective categories after hard-fought wins at the $200,000 Chinese Taipei Open Grand Prix Gold here.

However, it was the end of the road for Commonwealth Games bronze medallist R.M.V. Gurusaidutt, who lost his men's singles opener 21-23, 17-21 to Indonesian qualifier Shesar Hiren Rhustavito in straight games at the Taipei Arena.

Two-time World Championship bronze medallist Sindhu needed just 43 minutes to beat old foe Lindaweni Fanetri of Indonesia 21-19, 21-19 to advance to the women's singles Round of 16. With the victory, the Hyderabadi extended her career advantage to 6-2 over the Indonesian.

Sindhu will next play local third seed Tai Tzu Ying on Thursday for a place in the quarterfinals. Though Tai has a 2-1 lead in head-to-head over the World No.14 Indian, Sindhu trumped the World No.5 the last time they met at the 2012 India Open.

Meanwhile, men's singles third seed Srikanth needed only 34 minutes to ease past local talent Tzu Wei Wang 21-17, 21-15 in their first career meet. Later, Verma had to fight it out in three games against another local shuttler. Eventually, the Indian qualifier came out on top, beating Kuo Po Cheng 20-22, 21-13, 21-13 in 56 minutes in their first ever match.

Next up, Verma faces a tough task as he takes on World No.1 Chen Long of China while Srikanth will play against Indonesian Ihsan Maulana Mustofa for a place in third round.