Jakarta: Saina Nehwal struggled her way into the second round but compatriots B. Sai Praneeth and Subhankar Dey failed to cross the opening hurdle at the $350,000 Indonesia Masters badminton on Wednesday.
Eighth seeded Saina recovered from a first-game loss to secure a 7-21, 21-16, 21-11 win over local hope Dinar Dyah Ayustine, ranked 50th. It was Saina’s third win over Ayustine.
The 28-year-old from Hyderabad will next face another Indonesian Fitriani Fitriani, against whom she has a 4-0 head-to-head record.
National champions Manu Attri and B. Sumeeth Reddy also dished out a fighting game to notch up a 14-21, 21-19, 21-15 win over Denmark’s Mads Pieler Kolding and Niclas Nohr in the men’s doubles.
In the men’s singles, Praneeth was sent packing 12-21, 16-21 by Olympic champion Chen Long of China in 40 minutes, while Subhankar fought hard before going down 14-21, 21-19, 15-21 against Viktor Axelsen of Denmark.
Commonwealth Games bronze medallist pair of Ashwini Ponnappa and N. Sikki Reddy also bowed out, losing 14-21, 14-21 to Thailand’s Jongkolphan Kititharakul and Rawinda Prajongjai in the women’s doubles opener.
