Swiss Open Badminton: Sindhu topples Denmark's Line Hojmark to march into second round

SportsTak

Double Olympic medallist PV Sindhu stormed into the women's singles second round at the Swiss Open with a straight-game win over Denmark's Line Hojmark Kjaersfeldt.


Sindhu, also a former world champion, won her opening round match 21-14, 21-12 late on Wednesday.


Also progressing was the women's doubles pair of Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy, who got the better of local pair Aline Muller and Jenjira Stadelmann 21-15, 21-16 in straight games.


The men's doubles duo of MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila lost in the opening round of the ongoing Super 300 tournament to Indonesian pair of Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto 19-21, 13-21.


Rio Olympics silver medallist Sindhu will face Neslihan Yigit of China in the second round later on Thursday.


Meanwhile, seventh seed Kidambi Srikanth and Saina Nehwal made a winning start in the singles competition while Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy battled past All England champions Muhammad Shohibul Fikri and Bagas Maulana to progress in the Swiss Open here on Wednesday.


Srikanth defeated Mads Christophersen in straight games in the men's singles opening round. The Indian beat the Danish player 21-16, 21-17 in a match lasting 32 minutes.


Parupalli Kashyap too cruised to a 21-17, 21-9 win over France's Enogat Roy to enter the second round. In an all-India contest, H S Prannoy pipped B Sai Praneeth 25-23, 21-16 in a tight match lasting 48 minutes.


Third seeds Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy got past Indonesia's Muhammad Shohibul Fikri and Bagas Maulana after losing the first game in the men's doubles opening round. The final scoreline read 17-21, 21-11, 21-18.


The Indonesian duo had won the All England title last week.


In the women's singles, Ashmita Chaliha scripted a come-from-behind win over France's LéOnice Huet, prevailing 19-21, 21-10, 21-11.


Later in the day, London Olympics bronze medallist Saina outplayed Yaelle Hoyaux 21-8, 21-13 in her opening round fixture.


The mixed doubles duo of Ashwini Ponnappa and Sumeeth Reddy lost their first round match and so did the women's doubles combine of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand.