French Open: Srikanth, Sindhu warm up; Prannoy bows out

PTI

Paris, March 6

India’s Kidambi Srikanth progressed to the men’s singles second round with a stunning win over Chinese Taipei’s Chou Tien Chen but HS Prannoy exited from the French Open Super 750 here today.

A determined PV Sindhu advanced to the women’s singles second round after grinding out a three-game win over Canada’s Michelle Li.

World No. 24 Srikanth, who is racing against time to qualify for the Paris Olympics, outwitted 14th-ranked Chen 21-15 20-22 21-8 in a 66-minute opening-round clash for his third win over the Taiwanese shuttler in seven meetings.

In the next round, Srikanth will fight it out against China’s world No. 17 Lu Guang Zu, who defeated Prannoy 21-17 21-17 on the adjacent court at the Arena Porte de la Chapelle here.

Srikanth was by far the better player as he roared back from 5-7 behind, winning 14 off the next 17 points to earn the bragging rights.

However, Chen bounced back in the second game, clawing back at crucial intervals to take the match into the decider after a gruelling battle. After the change of sides, Srikanth was back in his element. From 7-5, the Indian pocketed nine straight points to leave Chen far behind. The Taiwanese managed three points before the Indian bagged the remaining five points.

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