Denmark Open 2019: Sai Praneeth beats Chinese legend Lin Dan, PV Sindhu cruises through

It was a mixed day for the Indian shuttlers on Day 1 of the Denmark Open. While PV Sindhu and Sai Praneeth won their respective encounters, Parupalli Kashyap and Sourabh Verma went down fighting to crash out of the tournament.

The day started with the men's doubles duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty taking on the Korean pair of Kim Gi Jung and Lee Yong Dae. The Thailand Open winners were in great form as they took down their rivals 24-22, 21-11 in just 39 minutes.

World Championships bronze medalist Praneeth was up next, and he also made it to the next round as he defeated the legendary Lin Dan 21-14, 21-17 in a game that saw the first round stretching to almost 35 minutes.

PV Sindhu, after a dismal showing in the last two tournaments, made an impressive start as she claimed a straight-set win over Gregoria Tunjung of Indonesia 22-20, 21-18 in 38 minutes. The fifth seed, thus, ensured that her unbeaten record against Tunjung remained intact.

Also read: Denmark Open: Where it all started for PV Sindhu

However, Parupalli Kashyap, who had reached the top four of the Korea Open, went down 13-21, 12-21 to Sitthikom Thammasin of Thailand in the men's singles event. Saurabh Verma too was unable to advance to the next round, losing to Mark Caljouw of the Netherlands. The winner of the Hyderabad Open and the Vietnam Open this year lost 21-19, 11-21, 17-21.

Women's doubles pair Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy fought tooth and nail and even had three game points in a topsy-turvy opener against the reigning world champions Mayu Matsutomo and Wakana Nagahara but the Japanese pair edge it 25-23. The second game was also quite closely contested but eventually, Ponnappa and Sikki lost 18-21.

On Day 2 of this Super 750 tournament, the likes of Saina Nehwal, Kidambi Srikanth and Sameer Verma, among other Indian shuttlers will be in action.