PV Sindhu, Kidambi Srikanth through to Round of 16 in Swiss Open
Other Sports | March 03, 2021 23:41 ISTSindhu beat Yigit Neslihan of Turkey 21-16 21-19 in her first round match that lasted 42 minutes.
Sindhu beat Yigit Neslihan of Turkey 21-16 21-19 in her first round match that lasted 42 minutes.
Indian men's singles players, too, have tasted success in this tournament with Sameer Verma, HS Prannoy and Kidambi Srikanth emerging victorious in 2018, 2016 and 2015 respectively
The 2021 All England Open will be the second tournament this year to offer ranking points to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics, after the Swiss Open.
Sindhu, the Olympic silver medallist, notched up a 21-18 21-15 win over world number 13 Pornpawee Chochuwong in her third and final match after suffering defeats in the first two days.
Kidambi lost 21-19, 9-21, 19-21 to Wang Tzu Wei of Chinese Taipei, Sindhu suffered an 18-21, 13-21 loss to Thailand's Ratchanok Intanon.
A week after a demoralising defeat at the Toyota Thailand Open quarterfinals, Sindhu produced a much-improved performance but still lost to Tzu Ying 21-19 12-21 17-21 in a 59-minute match.
Sindhu, who had won the prestigious title in 2018, has been clubbed in Group 'B' alongside top-ranked Tai Tzu Yin.
With the defeat of Sindhu and Sameer, Indian challenge in singles competition ended in the tournament.
Sindhu expectedly outclassed Malaysia's world no. 92 Kisona Selvaduray 21-10 21-12 in a lop-sided second-round contest that lasted just 35 minutes.
World champion Sindhu showed great discipline and focus to see off world no.12 Busanan 21-17 21-13 in the women's singles opener.
The Indian players seemed to struggle with their fitness as none of them could cross the second round at the Yonex Thailand Open, the first event of the Asia leg here.
. The ace Indian shuttler recently returned to the court at the Thailand Open but crashed out in the first round.
This was Sindhu's first tournament since the All England Open in March last year after which the Covid-19 pandemic disrupted the badminton calendar.
While Olympic silver-medallist Sindhu has been training in London for the last two months and would be keen to quickly find her rhythm, Saina was down with COVID-19 and has recently recovered from the dreaded disease.
The Hyderabad-based shuttler also exuded confidence that "in a couple of years, there will be a lot more players who will represent the country and also get medals for the country."
The Indian team, comprising Olympic hopefuls PV Sindhu, Saina Nehwal and B Sai Praneeth, have been allotted training timings.
Apart from Denmark Open, SaarLorLux Super 100 was the only other event to be held last year since the BWF was forced to suspend the calender after the completion of the All England Championships in March.
Sindhu and Saina didn't participate in Denmark Open Super 750 and SaarLorLux Super 100 -- the only two events which could be conducted since BWF was forced to suspend the calendar.
Sindhu last competed in March when she participated in the All England Championship, following which all tournaments were either cancelled or postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
With Olympic qualifications in mind, the Badminton Association of India (BAI) on Monday announced a strong eight-member squad to participate in the three upcoming tournaments, scheduled in January.
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