Swiss Open: Sindhu, Srikanth make a winning start

P V Sindhu
P V Sindhu beat Yigit Neslihan of Turkey 21-16, 21-19 in her first round match. File photo: IANS

Basel: Top Indian shuttlers P V Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth entered the round of 16 at the Swiss Open Super 300 tournament after their respective wins in the women's and men's singles competitions here on Wednesday.

While world champion Sindhu beat Yigit Neslihan of Turkey 21-16, 21-19 in her first round match that lasted 42 minutes, Srikanth staved off a spirited challenge from compatriot Sameer Verma to make a winning start to his campaign.

The second seeded Sindhu will next face Iris Wang of USA on Thursday.

Srikanth, who had claimed the title in 2015, took little over an hour to see off 2018 winner Sameer 18-21, 21-18, 21-11 in a hard-fought men's singles opening round match.

The fourth-seeded Srikanth, an Olympic hopeful, will be up against France's Thomas Rouxel.

Rouxel beat Canada's Xiaodong Sheng 21-18, 21-14 in another first round match.

Sourabh Verma also won his first round match against Switzerland's Christian Kirchmayr 21-19, 21-18. He faces eight seed Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand in the round of 16.

Ajay Jayaram also won his first round match against Sitthikom Thammasin of Thailand 21-12, 21-13 to enter the round of 16 where he will face third seed Rasmus Gemke of Denmark.

However, H S Prannoy made an early exit after losing to France's Mark Calijouw 19-21, 21-9, 17-21 in a men's singles first round match.

The second seeded Indian pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty also won their first round men's doubles match against Christopher Grimley and Matthew Grimley of Scotland 21-18, 19-21, 21-16.

Another Indian shuttler, Pranaav Jerry Chopra, who was returning to action after a COVID-19 pandemic break, didn't have a good outing as he along with his mixed doubles partner N Sikki Reddy lost 18-21, 15-21 to the third-seeded English pair of Marcus Ellis and Lauren Smith in 39 minutes.

Swiss Open is the first event of the extended Olympic qualification period which will end on June 15.

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