Sindhu bows out; Sen, Saina win in India Open

NEW DELHI: Double Olympic medallist PV Sindhu was knocked out but defending champion Lakshya Sen and London bronze medallist Saina Nehwal made winning starts at the India Open here on Tuesday.

World No. 7 Sindhu, a former champion, went down 12-21, 20-22 to Thailand’s world No. 30 Supanida Katethong in the Super 750 badminton tournament. The Indian had lost to the same player in the semi-finals of the last edition.

It was Sindhu’s second first-round exit following the opening-round loss to Carolina Marin at the Malaysia Open Super 1000 last week.

World No. 12 Sen, seeded seventh, settled the score against world No. 9 HS Prannoy after his opening-round reversal at the Malaysia Open, with a 21-14, 21-15 win at the KD Jadhav Indoor hall in IG Stadium.

It was also a good day for former champion Saina, who eked out a fighting 21-17, 12-21, 21-19 win over world No. 24 Mia Blichfeldt of Denmark in her opening match.

Sindhu, who is on a comeback trail after recovering from a stress fracture on her ankle, didn’t look at her best as she struggled against the left-handed Supanida, who was precise in her returns and looked in more control in the rallies.

A poor start saw the Indian trail 4-11 at the interval and even though she reduced the deficit to two points, Supanida reeled off four straight points from 17-14 to take the opening game.