Birmingham: Indian shuttlers P V Sindhu and Saina Nehwal advanced to the second round of the 2022 All England Open Badminton Championships after winning their respective women's singles matches, here on Wednesday.
Sindhu, the world No. 7, defeated Chinese world No. 17 Wang Zhi Yi 21-18, 21-13 in her first round match of the BWF Super 1000 tournament.
Two-time Olympic medallist began the match strongly and raced to a handy lead after the early exchanges. Wang Zhi Yi tried to pull the game back but Sindhu's early momentum proved to be the difference.
In the second game, the India ace continued to dominate her Chinese opponent and went up 9-0 in quick time. She went on to seal the match in 42 minutes.
Meanwhile, Saina Nehwal, ranked world No 25, defeated world No. 51 Beatriz Corrales of Spain 21-17, 21-19 in straight games.
Corrales had replaced Saina's initial opponent, Pornpawee Chochuwong of Thailand. The world No. 10 Thai shuttler pulled out of the tournament at the last minute.
In men's singles, H S Prannoy lost to German Open champion Kunlavut Vitidsarn 21-15, 24-22 while former World Championships bronze medallist B Sai Praneeth went down to Tokyo Olympics champion Viktor Axelsen 22-20, 21-11.
In women's doubles, Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand stunned India Open champions Benyapa Aimsaard and Nuntakarn Aimsaard 17-21, 22-20, 21-14. However, Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy lost to Japan's Rin Iwanaga and Kie Nakanishi 21-9, 21-13 and made an early exit.
Top Indian men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, ranked world No 8, beat Scotland's Alexander Dunn and Adam Hall 21-17, 21-19. The Indians saved four game points against the world No. 36 pair in the second game to move into the next round.
