Sindhu, Srikanth progress to second round of Indonesia Masters

PV Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth advanced to the second round of the Indonesia Masters. Sindhu beat Japan’s Manami Suizu, while Srikanth edged Koki Watanabe in a thriller. Kiran George, Akarshi Kashyap, and India’s mixed doubles pairs exited in the first round

Jakarta: Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu and former world No. 1 Kidambi Srikanth progressed to the second round of their respective events at the Indonesia Masters badminton tournament on Wednesday.

Fifth seed Sindhu defeated Japan’s Manami Suizu 22-20, 21-18 in a 53-minute women’s singles match. Srikanth, currently ranked 33rd in the world, battled for one hour and 12 minutes to overcome world No. 22 Koki Watanabe 21-15, 21-23, 24-22.

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Srikanth will next face fourth seed Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei, who beat Ireland’s Nhat Nguyen 21-14, 21-15 in another first-round match.

Elsewhere, Kiran George exited in the first round after losing 17-21, 14-21 to Indonesia’s Moh Zaki Ubaidillah. In women’s singles, Akarshi Kashyap bowed out after a 21-8, 20-22, 17-21 defeat to Denmark’s Julie Dawall Jakobsen.

India’s campaign ended in mixed doubles, with both pairs losing in the opening round. Rohan Kapoor and Ruthvika Gadde lost 9-21, 20-22 to fourth seeds Thom Gicquel and Delphine Delrue of France, while Dhruv Kapila and Tanish Crasto went down to another French duo, Julien Maio and Lea Palermo, 23-21, 20-22, 6-21.