Sindhu out of China Open, Sai in quarters

Changzhou, September 19

Reigning world champion PV Sindhu made an early exit from the China Open after losing a three-game thriller against Thailand’s Pornpawee Chochuwong in the women’s singles pre-quarterfinals. Sindhu squandered her advantage to go down 21-12 13-21 19-21 to Pornpawee in a match that lasted 58 minutes.

In men’s singles, B Sai Praneeth, who had claimed a bronze medal at the World Championships, edged out China’s Lu Guang Zu 21-19 21-19 to enter the quarterfinals. He will next meet seventh seed Anthony Sinisuka Ginting. Indonesia’s Ginting beat India’s Parupalli Kashyap 23-21 15-21 21-12 in a thrilling contest.

Doubles specialist Satwiksairaj Rankireddy also had a dismal day as he suffered two defeats, losing in both the men’s doubles and mixed doubles pre-quarterfinals. In the men’s doubles, Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty ran out of steam after a decent start against the fourth-seeded Japanese pair of Takeshi Kamura and Keigo Sonoda, losing 19-21 8-21. This is the second time Rankireddy and Shetty have lost to Kamura-Sonoda this year, having lost to the world No. 4 pair at the Japan Open in July. Rankireddy then paired up with his mixed doubles partner Ashwini Ponnappa but the duo couldn’t get past Japan’s Yuki Kaneko and Misaki Matsutomo, losing 11-21 21-16 12-21.

Among the other Indians in fray tomorrow, Parupalli Kashyap and B Sai Praneeth will be in action, while Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy will take on the second seeded Japanese duo of Misaki Matsutomo and Ayaka Takahashi in the second round of the women’s doubles. — PTI