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ESPN staff
PV Sindhu entered the second round of the Thai Open Open after defeating Busanan Ongbamrungphan in Thailand 21-17, 21-13. This was Sindhu’s first win since badminton was resumed after the coronavirus-induced outbreak. Kidambi Srikanth also advanced to the last 16 after a 21-11, 21-11 win over Sitthikhom Thammasin in Thailand.
Saina Nehwal’s long run continued in poor form although it lost 17-21, 8-21 to world champion and Ratchanok Intanon’s favorite at home in just 32 minutes. Sameer Verma went on to around 16 after an amazing world or. 10 Lee Zil Jia 18-21, 27-25, 21-19 in a battle with a saw. Others who promoted the doubles pair of men Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, the 2019 Thai Open champions came from behind in both games to beat teammates Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy 22-20 , 28-26 in 45 minutes. Rankireddy also advanced in the mixed doubles, as he and Ashwini Ponnappa defeated Danish duo Niclas Nohr and Amalie Magelund 23-21, 21-18.
Sindhu had won 10 of her previous 11 games against Ongbamrungphan, but it was the Thai player who got off to a better start as she seemed to be carrying the confidence from the quarter-run. her season last week at the Yonex Thailand Open.
Ongbamrungphan opened the lead 13-8 in the opening game as Sindhu seemed to suffer from a lack of competitive game play but the Indians brought all their experience to the end of the game while in which she distanced from Ongbamrungphan after reaching levels at 16-16.
Sindhu had also won the opening game in her first game against Mia Blichfeldt before going on to lose the game after spouting two game points in the second game. There were no such obstacles in this trip as Sindhu put in a comfortable lead at the start of the second game.
Ongbamrungphan tried hard but struggled to match Sindhu’s power and precision as the Indians selected the Thai player’s handball role in a clinical display in the second game. Sindhu will face Kisona Selvaduray of Malaysia in the round of 16.
Srikanth kept his perfect record against Thammasin as he was incredibly offensive from the start of the game. Thammasin was completely gaining the upper hand while the Indians landed on the controls with relentless precision in a powerful display.
Srikanth had pulled out of last week’s tournament with calf muscle injuries but today’s game was very simple and did not put pressure on the Indians at all.
In a game involving two former champions, Intanon had sung from the first point of the game when she started with a 5-0 lead and never lost a move through a game.
Intanon had a five-game streak loss against Saina but the last of those losses came two years ago at the Asian Games 2018. Saina’s struggles have manifested themselves over the past two years and she was often caught out of position while the Intanon wrist was easily moved around the court.
This was just Sameer’s second win against Lee in their seventh career meeting. Lee from Malaysia seemed to be on the verge of winning while leading with a game and being up 18-12 in the second game, but Sameer scored an incredible goal back from there, saving several game points before winning the decision game. Sameer will now take Rasmus Gemke from Denmark in the next round.
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Ashwini Ponnappa ‘s doubles doubles also advanced to round 16 after a 23-21, 21-18 win over Danish pair Danse Nicse Nohr and Denmark’ s Amalie Magelund in a 40 – minute match. They will now face Mark Lamsfuss of Germany and Isabel Herttrich in the next round.
In other results, Sourabh Verma lost 11-21, 16-21 to Anthony Sinisuka Ginting, Indonesia’s fifth seed in a round opener match around singles. Parupalli Kashyap fired swiftly after his retirement while slashing 0-3 against Gemke.