French Open: PV Sindhu, Kidambi Srikanth win, HS Prannoy loses

Star Indian shuttler PV Sindhu made a winning return to the BWF Circuit while Kidambi Srikanth defeated Chou Tien Chen in the first round of the French Open Super 750 tournament on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, India's number one men's singles shuttler HS Prannoy lost to Lu Guang Zu of China.

The world No. 24 Srikanth, who is racing against time to qualify for the Paris Olympics, outwitted 14th-ranked Chen 21-15, 20-22, 21-8 in a 66-minute opening-round clash for his third win over the Taiwanese shuttler in seven meetings.

Srikanth played brilliantly against Chou today. In the first game, Srikanth started on the back foot and was trailing 5-7.

However, he made a roaring comeback and took a lead of 19-10 owing to her superb winners and fine shot placement. Chou tried to come back and made it 15-19 but Srikanth held his fort to win the first game 21-15.

Chou came back strongly in the second game and won it to force the decider after a grueling battle of nerves.

In the decider, Srikanth completely demolished Chou and took nine straight points from the score of 7-5. Chou managed three points but Srikanth continued his juggernaut to register a stunning win.

Srikanth will face Lu Guang Zu in the next round who defeated Indian shuttler HS Prannoy in the straight games.

Prannoy started well in the first game and took an early lead but Lu Guang Zu never left sight of a comeback and kept Prannoy on the toes. From 17-17, Guang took four straight points to win the first game.

In the second game, Prannoy was always chasing after falling behind early in the game.

The rallies started getting fierce as the duo produce some sensational saves displaying great reflexes, but Guang Zu was a tad sharper and alert as he soon led 19-15 with Prannoy now struggling to get a grip on the fast-paced rallies.

The Indian did win three straight points to keep hopes alive before the Chinese grabbed three match points with a smash on his forehand and sealed it with another precise return on the forecourt.

PV Sindhu defeats Michelle Li in a gruesome battle

Returning to BWF Circuit after an injury force break, PV Sindhu played an 80-minute marathon match against Michelle Li and defeated her in three games.

It was not a typical Sindhu game where she was fluent with her attacks and immaculate with her defence. Still searching for her top gear, Sindhu kept fighting throughout the match.

Li's attack worked for most of the first half of the match with good shot quality at the mid-court region.

Li won the first game 22-20 and it looked like she would win the match as she was leading 18-16 in the second game. But Sindhu decided to come back with a couple of winners and force a decider.

With the legendary Prakash Padukone and Agus Dwi Santoso at the coach's chair, Sindhu managed to get her act together as she started pushing Li to the back and came up with forehand crosses and wonderful drops.

The Indian made a good start in the decider as her angled returns and smashes helped her to gain an 8-6 lead before she took an 11-7 advantage at the interval.

Sindhu looked in flow as she moved to 13-9 but Li again produced some tight cross-court net shots as she clawed back to 13-13 after the Indian went long.

With unforced errors from both the shuttlers, the scoreline read 17-17. A backhand kill on the body took Li to 18-17 but a cross-court return kept Sindhu afloat.

Sindhu pulled away from 18-18 and grabbed two points to make it 20-18. Li pulled one back with a brilliant return but she went wide next resulting in Sindhu celebrating her win with the trademark roar.