PV Sindhu struggles into second round of Malaysia Masters

Star Indian shuttler PV Sindhu had to dig deep to beat Denmark's Line Christophersen in the women's singles opening round

Kuala Lumpu: Star Indian shuttler PV Sindhu had to dig deep to beat Denmark’s Line Christophersen in the women’s singles opening round and enter the pre-quarterfinals of the Malaysia Masters here on Wednesday.

Sindhu, seeded sixth, had to toil for one hour and two minutes to get the better of Christophersen 21-13 17-21 21-18 and maintain her superiority over the world no. 33 Dane, who the Indian had defeated four times earlier.

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The two-time Olympic medallist Indian, ranked 13th in the world, will next play Japan’s Aya Ohori. However, it was curtains for qualifier Ashmita Chaliha and Aakarshi Kashyap in the women’s singles competition as they suffered straight-game defeats to crash out in the opening round.

While Ashmita lost 17-21 7-21 against fourth seed Yue Han of China, Aakarshi was shown the door by top seed Japanese Akane Yamaguchi 17-21 12-21. Among Indian men, Kidambi Srikanth defeated Toma Junior Popov 21-12 21-16 to enter the singles second round. He will be next be up against Thailand’s Kunlavut Vitidsarn, seeded eighth.

Later in the day, HS Prannoy will take on sixth seed Tien Chen Chou of Chinese Taipei, while Lakshya Sen will be up against seventh seed Kean Yew Loh of Singapore in the men’s singles opening round. Malvika Bansod will be in action against second seed Zhi Yi Wang of China in women”s singles.