P V Sindhu beats Li Xuerui, Sai Praneeth enters 2nd round of China Open
Ruling world champion P V Sindhu kicked off her China Open 2019 campaign with a comfortable 21-18, 21-12 victory over China’s Li Xuerui to advance to the second round in Changzhou, China on Wednesday.
India’s top shuttler Sindhu beat Li Xuerui 21-18 21-12 in just 34 minutes of action. Replicating her world championship form, the Olympic silver-medallist produced another strong performance to get the better of the currently 20th-ranked Chinese, who entered the match with a 3-3 record against the Indian.
However, Saina made an early exit after losing to Thailand’s Busanan Ongbamrungphan in the women’s singles. The London Olympics bronze-medallist lost 10-21 17-21 at the hands of the World No.19 Ongbamrungphan in a match that lasted for 44 minutes at the Olympic Sports Center Xincheng Gymnasium. It was the former world number one’s second successive loss to the Thai player.
The 29-year-old Saina has struggled for form following her recovery from injuries. The Indian started her season with a win at the Indonesia Open but has failed to reach another final on the BWF circuit so far.
In other matches of the day featuring Indian shuttlers, B Sai Praneeth defeated Thailand’s Suppanyu Avihingsanon 21-19 21-23 21-14 to make the next round of the men’s singles event.
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