Shuttlers Srikanth, Prannoy advance; Praneeth out of Indonesia Open

Indian shuttlers Kidambi Srikanth and H.S. Prannoy moved into the second round while B. Sai Praneeth bowed out of the Indonesia Open Superseries Premier badminton tournament here on Wednesday.

In a gruelling 56-minute battle, Srikanth edged past Wong Wing Ki Vincent of Hong Kong 21-15, 17-21, 21-16, while in a contrasting match, Prannoy outplayed his Indonesian opponent Anthony Sinisuka Ginting 21-13, 21-18. It was the end of road for Sai Praneeth as he lost to second seed Son Wan-ho of South Korea in straight sets 21-14, 21-18.

In a marathon match, Srikanth started on a positive note, winning the first game. But soon the Guntur player lost his momentum and lost the second game. In the decider, Srikanth played to his strength and displayed some brilliant shots to prevail over his opponent.

In the other match, it was a cake walk for Prannoy as his opponent Ginting never looked in the contention. The Indian shuttler dominated throughout the match and ended up clinching the game.

In mens' doubles category, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty were thrashed by Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto of Indonesia 9-21, 19-21 and crashed out of the prestigious tournament.

Womens' doubles pair of Ashwini Ponnappa and N. Sikki Reddy also showed a dismal performance and bowed out of the meet. The Indian pair were beaten by Dian Fitrini and Nadya Melati of Indonesia 21-19, 19-21, 13-21 in a match which lasted more than one hour.

--IANS

gau/vt