Korea Open: Prannoy, Rajawat enter 2nd round

The in-form HS Prannoy progressed to the second round with a fine show but PV Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth’s inconsistent run continued as they made opening round exits in the Korea Open Super 500 tournament here on Wednesday.

Fifth seed Prannoy, the only Indian singles player in the elite top 10, registered a 21-13 21-17 win over Belgium’s Julien Carraggi. The 31-year-old will face either Lee Yun Gyu or Lee Cheuk Yiu next.

Sindhu, who slipped to world number 17 this week, lost to 32-year-old world no. 22 Pai Yu-Po of Chinese Taipei 18-21 21-10 13-21 in the women’s singles opening round. The contest lasted 58 minutes.

Srikanth, on the other hand, squandered a match point advantage in the second game to go down 21-12 22-24 17-21 to former world no. 1 Kento Momota from Japan.

It was Srikanth’s 15th loss and 12th successive defeat against the two-time world champion, who has fallen to world number 53 after struggling with form for the last few years.