- PV Sindhu sheds off her poor form since her World Championship title in August and progresses to the next round by defeating her Indonesian opponent.
- However, Saina Nehwal, Parupalli Kashyap and Kidambi Srikanth suffered defeat and are out of the Denmark Open.
- Ashwini Ponappa was handed a defeat in Women's doubles and conceded walkover in mixed doubles with partner Rankireddy.
World Champion PV Sindhu qualified for the next round whereas Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth crashed out of the competition in the first round of the ongoing Denmark Open 2019. A contingent of 14 shuttlers from India had participated in the BWF World Tour event at the Odense Sports Park, Odense.
Bronze medalist at the World Championships, Sai Praneeth also progressed to the next round by defeating legendary shuttler, Lin Dan.
India’s campaign so far
World No.8 Saina Nehwal bowed out of the tournament in the very first round after suffering a 15-21, 21-23 defeat to Japanese shuttler Sayaka Takahashi. Saina was previously beaten by Sayaka when the two faced off in Thailand in August. The Indian shuttler has not been her best self this year and has clearly struggled with her form this year as she was knocked out in the first rounds at the China and Korea Open. Nehwal was diagnosed with a gastroenteritis problem in March and has struggled to stay fit ever since.
8th seed Saina Nehwal of India once again failed to justify her seedings as she lost her 1st round match against S Takahashi of Japan in straight sets 15-21, 21-23 & made early exit from the tournament continuing her poor form at 2019 Denmark Open Badminton Super 750 tournament. pic.twitter.com/kBA3Sdq7Ym
— Naresh Kumar (@NareshK03217841) October 16, 2019
2017 Denmark Open winner Kidambi Srikanth also suffered defeat in the first round. Kidambi lost to 4th seed Dane, Anders Antonsen 14-21, 18-21 although he had previously defeated Anders at the 2017 Denmark Open. Srikant had missed the China and Korea open due to a knee injury.
PV Sindhu qualified for the next round after defeating former World Junior Champion Gregoria Mariska Tunjung of Indonesia. After a disappointing performance at the China and Korea Open, World Champion Sindhu bounced back strongly to beat Gregoria 22-20, 21-18. PV Sindhu will face Korean shuttler An Se Young in the next round.
B Sai Praneeth, who was a bronze medalist at the World Championships, faced tough competition against the legendary shuttler, Lin Dan. However, Praneeth defeated Lin 21-14, 21-17 to set up another tough match against Japanese World No.1 Kento Momota. This won’t be the first time the two are facing off, as Kento had defeated Praneeth when the two met at the World Championships in Basel.
Sai Praneeth is into the R16 of Denmark Open………He beats Lin Dan convincingly…….As it looks now, he is boarding his flight to Tokyo
— india_badminton (@india_badminton) October 15, 2019
Mixed doubles pair, Ashwini Ponappa and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy failed to show up for their game and conceded a walkover defeat to their Chinese opponents Wang Yi Lyu and Huang Dong Ping. Moreover, Ashwini faced another setback as she and her women’s double partner N Sikki Reddi suffered defeat at the hands of Wakana Nagahara & Mayu Matsumoto 23-25, 18-21. However, Rankireddy, along with his men’s doubles partner Chirag Shetty, defeated Korean shuttler’s Gi-Jung and Yong-Dae 24-22, 21-11 to enter men’s doubles second round.
Men’s singles shuttler Sourabh Verma was handed a defeat by Dutch shuttler Mark Caljouw. Sourabh was knocked out of round 1 in a 21-19, 11-21, 17-21 loss.
Parupalli Kashyap also suffered a defeat after losing 13-21, 12-21 to Thailand’s Sitthikom Thammasin.
