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Denmark Open: Kidambi Srikanth, Saina Nehwal advance into second round
Ace Indian shuttlers Kidambi Srikanth and Saina Nehwal registered contrasting victories to progress into the second round of the Denmark Open in Odense on Wednesday.
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World number six Srikanth needed just 35 minutes to beat local shuttler Hans-Kristian Solberg Vittinghus 21-16, 21-10 in the opening round, while Saina overcame Hong Kong’s Cheung Ngan Yi 20-22, 21-17, 24-22 in a marathon match to advance into the second round of the USD 7,75,000 tournament.
Srikanth will next face Lin Dan of China in the second round. The Indian last beat Dan at the China Open in 2014. But the legendary Chinese shuttler is no longer the force he once was and is currently ranked 14th in the international rankings.
Also Read: Denmark Open: PV Sindhu stunned by Beiwen Zhang
Sameer Verma also progressed into the second round and will next face Asian Games gold-medallist Jonathan Christie. A win there will see him square-off against Srikanth in the quarter-finals if the latter overcome Dan in his last-16 match.
Meanwhile, Asian Games bronze medallist Saina fought-back from being a game down to beat Ngan Yi and advance in the second round. The Hong Kong shuttler won the opening game 22-20, but Saina clinched the second set quite comfortably at 21-17 taking the game into the decider.
The third set witnessed an epic battle between the two with neither giving an opportunity to the other. But Saina kept her cool to eventually seal the game and with it secure the victory.
In was a mixed day in the doubles category, as Ashwini Ponappa and N Sikki Reddy secured a comfortable 21-7 21-11 win over the American duo of Ariel Lee and Sydney Lee to progress to the next round.
It was, however, curtains for the Indian pair of Meghanna Jakkampudi and S Ram Poorvisha, who went down in straight sets 17-21, 11-21 against the duo of Emma Karlsson and Johanna Magnusson.
Image Source: Indian Express/ The Pioneer
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