India Open: Saina Nehwal gets lucky, HS Prannoy, Lakshya Sen in Round 2

New Delhi, January 12

Former champion Saina Nehwal, World Championships bronze medallist Lakshya Sen and comeback man HS Prannoy registered contrasting wins to progress to the second round of the India Open badminton here today.

Top doubles pairing Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty also began their campaign on a bright note.

Former world No. 1 Saina, who missed a lot of tournaments last year due to multiple injuries, moved to the second round after her opponent, Czech Republic’s Tereza Svabikova, suffered a back injury and retired midway while lagging 20-22 0-1 in the opening round match.

On a comeback trail, Prannoy got the better of Spain’s Pablo Abian 21-14 21-7. Third seed Sen thrashed Egypt’s Adham Hatem Elgamal 21-15 21-7 to set up a face-off with Sweden’s Felix Burestedt.

World No. 10 men’s duo Satwik and Chirag, seeded second, trounced fellow Indians Chirag Arora and Ravi 21-14 21-10.

In the women’s doubles, Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy, prevailed 21-7 19-21 21-13. —