Saina, Sindhu, Srikanth clear 1st round hurdle

The Indian badminton stars Saina Nehwal, PV Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth comfortably cruised through their respective matches even as Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty and Manu Attri-B Sumeeth Reddy losing their respective men's doubles were the disappointments of the Day I of the Yonex Sunrise India Open 2017 at the Siri Fort Sports Complex here on Wednesday.

The Indian star male shuttler Srikanth beat China's Junpeng Zhao in straight sets to advance to the next stage. Despite having a slow start, Srikanth emerged victorious 21-19, 21-16 battling two close games.

Despite having an extremely slow beginning going 1-8 down in the first set, Srikanth came back in a fashionable way with his trademark smashes, exquisite net play and strong backhand returns defining the course of the game. The second set was much more comfortable for him as he consistently maintained the lead and closed down the game 21-16.

Even though Srikanth was the last Indian to play on the day, Srikanth had the backing of a sizeable crowd and it was stunning how as soon as his match was announced, the entire crowd of the stadium rushed towards his court.

"It was surprising to see so many people stay so late for my match and I felt very happy; they cheered me very nicely and I'm really lucky to have so many people behind me."

Sixth seed Saina Nehwal barely faced any trouble against Chinese Taipei's Lee Chia Hsin and won the match 21-10, 21-17 in straight sets to enter the Round of 16.

Even though Lee started well, Saina overcame the initial hiccups well to cruise through the match. In the second set, Saina had reached 20-14 with a beautiful drop shot only to gift Lee three points before sealing the match.

"I think I gave away some easy points at the end and it was my fault. May be I was a little anxious or I didn't expect to win the game so easily but match wise, it was a good game," Saina said after the match.

Making a gradual comeback after her knee injury, Saina said, "I'm feeling like I'm moving well and yes, these matches do help gain match fitness."

PV Sindhu, on the other hand, brushed aside Indian compatriot Arundhati Pantawane 21-17, 21-6 to move to the next round.

Despite having a slow start to the game, Sindhu came back with much ease to complete dominate the game. On prospect of facing Saina ahead, Sindhu said, "I'm taking it step by step, thinking only about on Thursday's match but yes, if everything goes well then we will be facing each other and it will be a good match."

Earlier in the day, Sameer Verma shocked World No. 5 Son Wan Ho 21-17, 21-10 and it was his cross court play that stood out in the game.

"I realised that four cross court shots were making it tough for him so that was my strategy," Sameer said after the game.

In the other singles games, B Sai Praneeth won 16-21, 21-12, 21-19 against Japan's Kenta Nishimoto, Rituparna Das beat Chinese Taipei's Chiang Mei Hui 19-21, 21-15, 21-19 and Sourabh Verma defeated compatriot HS Prannoy 21-13, 21-16 as the latter played with a strapped right knee that seemed to be hampering his movement. Ajay Jayaram lost to Denmark's Victor Axelsen 21-23, 17-21.

In the doubles category, star pair Ashwini Ponappa and N Sikki Reddy defeated English pair Gabrielle Adcock and Jessica Pugh 21-16, 21-16 in mixed doubles while Sikki also won her mixed doubles match with Pranaav Jerry Chopra 21-15, 21-19 against Indonesian pair Faizal Hafiz and Shela Devi Aulia.