Badminton
Malaysia Masters 2022: Sindhu, Praneeth, Kashyap move into second round
Indian shuttlers PV Sindhu, Parupalli Kashyap and Sai Praneeth registered some notable victories while Saina Nehwal, Sameer Verma lost in the first round of the Malaysia Masters 2022.
PV Sindhu (Source: AP)
Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu was made to toil hard by China's He Bing Jiao before emerging victorious in the opening round of the Malaysia Masters at the Axiata Arena, Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday.
The seventh-seeded Sindhu took close to an hour to knock out Bing Jiao 21-13 17-21 21-15 and move to the second round. By virtue of the win, the world number seven Sindhu exacted revenge for her first-round exit from the Indonesia Open Super 1000 last month when Bing Jiao had defeated her in straight games. The Chinese still leads the head-to-head 10-9.
In the men's singles, B Sai Praneeth and Parupalli Kashyap moved to the second round with contrasting wins. While Praneeth hardly broke a sweat against Kevin Cordon, registering an easy 21-8 21-9 win over Guatemalan in less than half an hour, Kashyap came back from a one-game deficit to dispatch local favourite Tommy Sugiarto 16-21 21-16 21-16.
Praneeth will take on Li Shi Feng in the pre-quarterfinals.
However, it was the end of the road for Sameer Verma, who went down fighting to fourth seed Chinese Taipei shuttler Chou Tien Chen 21-10 12-21 14-21. Saina Nehwal also suffered a harsh defeat at the hands of Kim Ga Eun, losing 16-21, 21-17, 21-14, despite winning the first game.
Later in the day, HS Prannoy and the women's doubles pair of N Sikki Reddy and Ashwini Ponnappa will be in action.
