China Open: Sindhu, Prannoy bow out in first round; Satwik-Chirag progress

Fuzhou (China), November 5: World Champion P V Sindhu suffered yet another early exit after she crashed out of the China Open Super 750 following a shock loss to lower-ranked Pai Yu Po of Chinese Taipei in Fuzhou, China on Tuesday (November 5).

World No.6 Sindhu, who made early exits in China, Korea and Denmark, lost 13-21 21-18 19-21 to world No.42 Pai in a 74-minute women's singles match in the opening round in Fuzhou.

HS Prannoy, who has recently recovered from dengue, faltered in the opening round, losing 17-21 18-21 to Denmark's Rasmus Gemke in the men's singles event.

India's top doubles pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, brought some joy as they carried on their form from the French Open to ease past Malaysian pair Phillip and Ryan Chew. The Thailand Open champions will next face sixth seeded Japanese pair Hiroyuki Endo and Yuta Watanabe in round two.

Earlier in the day, mixed doubles pair Rankireddy and Ashwini Ponnappa, ranked 30th, beat Canada's Joshua Hurlburt-Yu and Josephine Wu 21-19 21-19 to make a positive start. The pair will next meet fifth seeded South Koreans Seo Seung-jae and Chae Yu-jung in the second round.

Ponnappa, however, endured defeat in the women's doubles match as she and Sikki Reddy lost 9-21, 8-21 in straight games to China's Wen Mei Li and Zheng Yu.

Meanwhile, the likes of Saina Nehwal, Parupalli Kashyup, Sameer Verma will begin their campaign on Wednesday (November 6). The other men's doubles pair Manu Attri and B. Sumeeth Reddy will also be in action on day two along with mixed doubles pair Sikki Reddy and Pranav Jerry Chopra.

(With inputs from PTI)