Two bigwigs of Indian women's badminton, PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal, suffered contrasting fates at the Malaysia Open Super 750 tournament on Wednesday. While former advanced to the second round after comprehensive win, latter crashed out after losing in the opener.
If Sindhu, a former world champion, dished out a fine performance to outwit Thailand's world number 10 Pornpawee Chochuwong 21-13 21-17, London Olympics bronze medallist Saina went down fighting against American Iris Wang, ranked 33rd in the world, 11-21 17-21 in 37 minutes.
Sindhu, seeded seventh, set up a clash with Phittayaporn Chaiwan, a 21-year-old from Thailand, who held the number one ranking in world junior ranking and also was part of the bronze medal-winning team at the Uber Cup in Bangkok.
B Sumeeth Reddy and Ashwini Ponnappa, who will be leading India's charge at the Commonwealth Games, also couldn't get past world number 21 pairing of Robin Tabeling and Selena Piek of the Netherlands.
The Indian duo lost 15-21 21-19 17-21 after a 52-minute battle.
Earlier on Tuesday, India's star shuttler HS Prannoy endured tight resistance before getting the better of local hero Daren Liew as he advanced to the men's singles second round.
A former top-10 player, Prannoy, who had reached the semifinals of Indonesia Open Super 1000 earlier this month, emerged a 21-14, 17-21, 21-18 winner in 62 minutes.
The 29-year-old from Kerala, ranked 21st currently, will face fourth seeded Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei next at the Super 750 badminton tournament.
Prannoy's win brought some cheers to the Indian camp after B Sai Praneeth and Sameer Verma made early exits.
While Praneeth went down to world number six Anthony Sinisuka Ginting of Indonesia, Sameer lost to world number 8 Jonatan Christie, also from Indonesia.
The 30-year-old Praneeth, currently ranked world number 19, lost 15-21 21-19 9-21 to Ginting in a 50-minute men's single match.
This was eight meeting between the two players with the Indonesian now leading the head-to-head record 5-3. They last played at the 2020 Asian Team championships where Ginting won the contest after Praneeth retired due to an injury.
Sameer, who is making a comeback from injury, fought for 49 minutes before losing 14-21 21-13 7-21 in another match.
In doubles, women's pairing of Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy also bowed out of the tournament after losing 15-21 11-21 to Japanese duo of Nami Matsuyama and Chiharu Shida, seeded sixth.
Prannoy was slow off the mark but opened up a healthy 11-7 lead at the break. His strokes penetrated the defence of his opponent, who looked little passive as Prannoy was rewarded for his alertness and better control in the rallies.
