Denmark Open: Kidambi Srikanth downs Sai Praneeth, PV Sindhu eyes strong return to action
Denmark Open 2021: While double Olympic medalist PV Sindhu will resume action on the tour in the Super 1000 tournament, Kidambi Srikanth opened his campaign with a straight-game win over Sai Praneeth on Tuesday.
In Short
- PV Sindhu will return to competitive action on Tuesday at Denmark Open
- Kidambi Srikanth likely to face Kento Momota in 2nd round
- Saina Nehwal will return after recovering from an injury setback at Uber Cup
India's campaign at the Denmark Open World Tour Super 1000 began on Tuesday with Kidambi Srikanth beating Sai Praneeth in an all-Indian men's singles first-round match.
Kidambi Srikanth needed just 30 minutes to beat his compatriot Sai Praneeth 21-14, 21-11 to storm into the second round. Srikanth will face top seed Kento Momota of Japan in the 2nd round at the prestigious tournament.
Sai Praneeth's poor run in the ongoing season continued as the former world championship bronze medalist lost his fifth successive match on the tour.
Meanwhile, double Olympic medallist and reigning world champion P V Sindhu will look for a good outing as she returns to competitive action after a break, at the Denmark Open.
Sindhu, a bronze medallist at the Tokyo Olympics, had taken a break due to the hectic schedule during the Games, but she would be itching to make a winning return to the USD 850,000 event, which will also restart the BWF World Tour following a suspension due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Also in action will be London Olympics bronze medallist Saina Nehwal, who has recovered from her groin injury, which had forced her to retire midway through her first match at the Uber Cup Final last week.
While Sindhu, seeded fourth, will look for a rampaging start when she opens against Turkey's Neslihan Yigit, Saina will have to work hard to get past Japan's Aya Ohori in her opening round.
Sindhu, the 2016 Rio Games silver medallist, is likely to cross swords with Thailand's Busanan Ongbamrungphan in the second round and a win there could put her face to face with fifth seed Korean An Seyoung.
Satwik, Chirag look to continue good run
All eyes will also be on Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy as the seventh seeded Indian pair open its campaign against English combination of Callum Hemming and Steven Stallwood.
The duo has been in impressive form, having won all its four matches at the Thomas Cup final in Aarhus, Denmark.
In the men's singles, young Lakshya Sen, who finished second best at Dutch Open on Sunday, will look to continue his good run when he faces compatriot Sourabh Verma in his campaign opener.
Lakshya had failed to make the Indian team for the Sudirman Cup and Thomas Cup Final after losing his only match in the trials and would be eager to prove a point.
Sameer Verma, who had a decent outing at Thomas Cup, will also eye a good campaign when he opens against Thailand's Kunlavut Vitidsarn, while former world No. 10 H S Prannoy will look to quickly get into rhythm as he takes on sixth seed Jonatan Christie of Indonesia.
Former Commonwealth Games champion Parupalli Kashyap will have his task cut out against fourth seed Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei.
Among other Indians, MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila will look to put up a better show, while Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy too will be seen in action.
The women's doubles pair of N Sikki Reddy and Ashwini Ponnappa and Meghana Jakkampudi and S Ram Poorvisha are also in the fray.
Ashwini will pair up with Satwik in the mixed doubles category to face China's Feng Yan Zhe and Du Yue. (With PTI Inputs).