Indonesia Open: Sindhu passes Okuhara test; Sen, Prannoy ousted

Jakarta: PV Sindhu and the men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty battled their way into the pre-quarterfinals but it was curtains for Lakshya Sen in the very first round of the Indonesia Open Super 1000 here on Tuesday.

Sindhu overcame long-time rival Nozomi Okuhara of Japan 22-20 21-23 21-15 in an absorbing one hour and 19 minutes clash in the women’s singles.

“I have been losing in the first rounds (of late) so it was very much useful and important for me to win matches like these,” said Sindhu. “It is always good to play with her, obviously it is not easy but at the same time I would have finished it off in two sets but I should have been a little more cautious,” Sindhu said.

Sindhu faces sixth seed Pornpawee Chochuwong of Thailand in the Round of 16.

Sen fought valiantly before falling 11-21 22-20 15-21 to world No. 2 Shi Yu Qi of China in a gripping first-round men’s singles contest that lasted 65 minutes.

HS Prannoy also bowed out, losing 7-21, 18-21 to Indonesia’s Alwi Farhan.

Later, Satwiksairaj and Chirag made it to the Round of 16 after beating the Indonesian duo of Leo Rolly Carnando and Bagas Maulana 18-21 21-18 21-14 in their opening-round match in 67 minutes. agencies