PV Sindhu downs World No 6 to advance to Singapore Open second round

India's star shuttler PV Sindhu advanced to the second round of the women’s singles at the Singapore Open with a commanding straight-games victory over fifth seed Putri Kusuma Wardani on Tuesday.

The 30-year-old two-time Olympic medallist defeated the World No 6 Indonesian 21-17, 21-18 in the opening round of the Super 750 tournament.

The victory would come as a major confidence booster for the former world champion, who had suffered defeats against Wardani twice last year at the World Championships and the Sudirman Cup. Sindhu will next face Japan’s Riko Gunji in the second round.

India also enjoyed success in men’s doubles as the Asian Games gold medal-winning pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty fought back to beat Malaysia’s Chen Zhi Yi and Presley Smith 26-28, 21-15, 21-13 in the opening round. The World No 4 Indian duo will next face either Chinese Taipei’s Lee Jhe-Huei and Yang Po-Hsuan or China’s Liu Yang and Huang Di.

However, it was an otherwise disappointing day for the Indian contingent in the doubles events.

In women’s doubles, India’s Kavipriya Selvam and Simran Singhi went down 21-18, 13-21, 5-21 to Spain’s Paula Lopez and Lucia Rodriguez in a 48-minute clash.

Another Indian pair, Ashwini Bhat K and Shikha Gautam, also bowed out after losing 16-21, 11-21 to Chinese Taipei's Chang Ching Hui and Yang Ching Tun.

In men’s doubles, Japan’s seventh-seeded duo of Takuro Hoki and Yugo Kobayashi defeated India’s Hariharan Amsakarunan and M. R. Arjun 21-15, 21-13.

India’s mixed doubles pair of Rohan Kapoor and Ruthvika Shivani Gadde also suffered a narrow 18-21, 20-22 defeat against Chinese Taipei’s Yang Po Han and Hu Ling Fang in another first-round encounter.