Badminton
Indonesia Open 2022: PV Sindhu, Sai Praneeth crash out, Ashwini-Sikki, Sameer Verma progress
The Indonesia Open campaign for Indian shuttlers started on an upsetting note as veteran shuttlers PV Sindhu and Sai Praneeth suffered shocking losses in the first round of the BWF Super 1000 tournament.
It was an early exit for double Olympic medallist PV Sindhu and Tokyo Olympian B. Sai Praneeth at the Indonesia Open 2022 as both veteran shuttlers crashed out of the BWF Super 1000 tournament in the first round itself.
The seventh-seeded PV Sindhu could not fire ashuttlersll her ammunition against China's He Bing Jiao, her opponent from the bronze medal clash at the Tokyo Games and lost in straight games, 21-14, 21-18 in a no-nonsense affair.
Meanwhile, Sai Praneeth who was eyeing a comeback after a few injury-ridden months put up a good fight against Denmark's Hans-Kristian Solberg Vittinghus but it was in vain as the former World Championship bronze medallist lost, 21-16, 21-19 to the Dane.
It was Sindhu's second meeting with He Bing Jiao, the World No. 9 player, after their Tokyo meet-up in August 2021. At the Badminton Asia Championships in April, Sindhu had gotten the better of the Chinese shuttler in a difficult and highly controversial three-setter, 21-9, 13-21, 21-19. However, up against Bing Jiao today, Sindhu hit impatient shots and racked up her errors which ultimately cost her the match, despite the World No. 7 Indian shuttler giving it her all in the second set and attempting a comeback.
For Sai Praneeth, the comeback will need to wait a little longer because he failed to capitalise his chances against the more lithe Vittinghus and ended up exiting from the BWF Super 1000 tournament in the first round itself.
India's luck at the Indonesia Open has always been a little jaded with only former World No. 1's Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth having won the title here. Saina won the Indonesia Open a record three times - 2009, 2010, 2012 and finished as a finalist in 2011. Srikanth won in 2017, as well.
The only silver lining of the day has come from some solid performances from veterans Ashwini Ponnappa/N Sikki Reddy and Sameer Verma. Ashwini-Sikki easily defeated the pair of Srivedya Gurazada and Ishika Jaiswal, 21-15, 21-8 while Sameer Verma also had a no-nonsense outing against Frenchman Thomas Rouxel, winning 21-19, 21-15.