Star shuttler PV Sindhu survived a dip in the opening round against Scotland’s Kirsty Gilmour at the Denmark Open Super 750 tournament on Tuesday, October 17 to progress to the women’s singles second round. Sindhu defeated World No. 28 21-14, 18-21, 21-10 after recovering from the second game blip in Odense.
Sindhu, ranked 12 in the world, headed to Denmark after having made the semi-final of Arctic Open in Vantaa, Finland. She lost to China’s Wang Zhi Yi in a 3-game battle.
Sindhu looked in control in the opening game, moving freely and dictating the rallies to clinch it 21-14. She lost the second game despite a late rush but she was turned up for the deciding game as she blew away Gilmour’s challenge. Notably, it was Sindhu’s second win over the Scottish player on the tour in 3 meetings.
India’s Akarshi Kashyap also progressed to the second round of the Super 750 tournament, beating Germany’s Yvonne LI in a fantastic effort as she recovered from a game down to win the match 10-21, 22-20, 21-12.
SRIKANTH OUSTED
However, there was disappointment in men’s singles as Kidambi Srikanth, who has been struggling for form, lost to World No. 22 Weng Hong Yang despite winning the opening game. The World No. 20 went down 21-19, 10-21, 16-21.
Asian Games bronze medalist HS Prannoy did not travel to Denmark as he is at home, recovering from a back injury that he managed in Hangzhou.
However, World No. 1 Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty withdrew from their first-round match in Denmark. The duo was set to face Malaysia’s Ong Yew Sin and Teo Ee Yi in the opening round. Satwik and Chirag scripted history for India, becoming the first pair to win a Gold medal for India at the Asian Games earlier this month.