Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu and in-form shuttler Lakshya Sen made impressive starts at the Indonesia Masters Super 750 badminton tournament, reaching the second round with contrasting wins in Bali on Tuesday.
Ashwin Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy also progressed to the second round while Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty lost a tough first-round fixture.
The highlight of the day was Lakshya’s stunning win over world no 10 Japan’s Kanta Tsuneyama in the men’s singles. The 20-year-old from Almora, who had reached the semifinals at Hylo Open Super 500 and final of Dutch Open earlier on the European circuit, displayed tremendous grit on way to a shocking 21-17 18-21 21-17 win over Kanta in an hour and 8 minutes.
This was Lakshya’s second win against a top 10 player in the senior BWF circuit. He will now face top seed and two-time world champion Kento Momota of Japan in the next round.
Reigning world champion Sindhu, seeded third, record a 21-15 21-19 win over Thailand’s Supanida Katethong in a 43-minute women’s singles match to set up a second-round clash with Spain’s Clara Azurmendi.
Sindhu didn’t have much trouble in outwitting Supanida in the opening game as she ran up a lead of 11-5 and kept her opponent at a distance even after the break. Supanida was more competitive in the second game as she kept snapping at Sindhu’s heels. Going for the lines more frequently in the second game, the left-handed shuttler troubled the Indian. Sindhu had opened up an 11-8 lead at the break but the Thai player kept lurking around. At 19-18, Sindhu grabbed two match points. Supanida saved one before Sindhu sealed the affair. A few close umpiring calls went in the Indian’s favour and she was able to close it out.
In men’s singles, Lakshya, ranked a career best 19th, continued his good form to shock his higher-ranked opponent who had won the French Open Super 750 title recently. Lakshya rallied his way from 6-9 down in the opening game to first grab a 13-11 lead and then reeled off four straight points from 14-13 to leave Kanta behind and gain an upper hand.
In the second game, Lakshya was up 4-0 but Kanta clawed his way back at 10-8. The Indian ensured that he had his nose ahead at the interval but his one-point advantage was blown away by the Japanese, who broke off from 14-14 to roar back into the contest.
In the decider, Lakshya showed great mental fortitude as he fought back from 3-6 to jump to 13-8 with a six-point burst. Kanta made it 16-16 but Lakshya ensured he had the last laugh as he won five of the next six points to enter the second round.
Among others, sixth seeded Indian men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty lost 17-21, 15-21 against Malaysia’s Ong Yew Sin and Teo Ee Yi later in the day. It was a tough first-round draw for the Indian pair, with the Malaysians ranked only three places below them at 14.
Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy registered a good come-from-behind win against Denmark’s Alexandra Boje and Mette Poulsen, moving on 9-21, 21-11, 21-18 in 59 minutes.
First-round action continues in Bali on Wednesday with the rest of the Indian contingent in fray.
With PTI inputs
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