Thailand Open Badminton: Positive starts for Big Two

New Delhi: Top Indian shuttlers P.V. Sindhu and Saina Nehwal notched up contrasting wins to make a positive start to their campaign at the Indonesia Super Series Premier badminton tournament in Jakarta, on Tuesday.

Fourth seed Sindhu brushed aside world no. 20 Pornpawee Chochuwong of Thailand 21-12, 21-19, while world no. 11 Saina rallied her way to a 17-21, 21-18, 21-12 win over eighth seed Thai Ratchanok Intanon in the women’s singles.

Three-time champion Saina, who had a 7-5 head-to-head record against Ratchanok, will face another Thai player Nitchaon Jindapol in the next round. If Saina wins her next match, she is likely to clash with world no. 1 Tai Tzu Ying in the quarter-finals.

Olympics silver medallist Sindhu, who has won the Syed Modi Grand Prix Gold and India Super Series this season, will square off against the USA’s Zhang Beiwen in the next round.

In mixed doubles, B. Sumeeth Reddy and Ashwini Ponnappa suffered a 12-21, 9-21 loss to Indonesia’s Irfan Fadhilah and Weni Anggraini.

Saina made a good start, leading 10-4 at one stage but she blew the advantage after the break as Ratchanok clawed her way back to 14-14 and then closed out the game.

In the second game, Saina opened up a 12-7 lead and despite the Thai girl levelling scores at 16-16,ahe surged ahead to bounce back into the match.

In the decider, Saina dished out a dominating game as she led right from the start 8-2 and gave no chance to Ratchanok to make a comeback.

Sindhu hardly broke sweat as she got past Pornpawee without much ado in the opening game after leading 6-2.

In the second game, Sindhu once again opened a 10-3 lead but the Thai girl managed to claw her way back with seven straight points. The Indian, however, soon surged to a 15-10 lead and despite a fightback from Pornpawee, Sindhu managed to shut the door on her rival.