Indian shuttlers have started the Denmark Open on a positive note as Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist PV Sindhu, Srikanth Kidambi and doubles pairing of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty start with wins. India were hot and cold at the Thomas and Uber Cup but the shuttlers are ready to redeem themselves at the Denmark Open which is taking place in Odense, Denmark.
Amid all the positives, Sai Praneeth suffered an early setback along with the pair of Manu Attri and Sumeeth Reddy.
While it will only get tougher from here, the Indian shuttlers will also look to up the ante. Two time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu returned to action as she cruised past her Turkish opponent Neslihan Yigit by a 21-12, 21-10 scoreline. The Indian was at her dominant best and it took her 30 minutes exact to progress to the second round. Sindhu will face a tougher opponent in the second round in form of Thailand’s Busanan Ongbamrungphan.
In the men’s bracket, it was an all Indian clash where Srikanth Kidambi stamped his authority against Sai Praneeth. Srikanth was simply on fire as he wrapped up the game in 30 minutes by winning 21-14, 21-11. The Indian will face a stiff test in the next round against world no. 1 Japan’s Kento Momota.
Sameer Verma also secured a win in the first round of the Denmark Open against Thai youngster Kunlavut Vitidsarn. It was not the easiest of matches for Verma as the 20-year-old youngster showed great fight. However, Verma won the match 21-17,21-14 and will now face home favourite Anders Antonsen in the next round of the tournament.
All was not good for the Indians as doubles pairing of Manu Attri and Sumeeth Reddy suffered a loss against the Malaysian duo of Sze Fei Goh and Nur Izzuddin. The Indians lost 21-18, 21-11.
However, apart from them all of the other pairings have progressed through to the second round. The highly acclaimed duo of Rankireddy and Shetty also won their match as they defeated Callum Hemming and Steven Stallwood by 23-21, 21-15.
Other pairings like M.R. Arjun and Dhruv Kapila also won their first-round match. The mixed doubles pairing of Dhruv Kapila and N. Sikki Reddy also won their respective first-round fixture defeating Pang Ron Hoo and Yee See Cheah of Malaysia by a 14-21, 21-17, 21-18 scoreline
