NEW DELHI, Apr 25:
Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal notched up a comfortable straight-game victory over Hong Kong’s Pui Yin Yip to start her India Open Super Series campaign on a positive note, here today.
The world number five Saina hardly broke a sweat and wrapped up the match inside half an hour, beating the Hong Kong girl 21-14 21-6 to set up a clash with Koean Youn Joo Bae in the women’s singles.
Aiming to qualify for the London Olympics, Ajay Jayaram and P Kashyap scored contrasting victories in their opening matches in the men’s singles at the Siri Fort Sport Complex.
World number 27 Ajay Jayaram saw off compatriot Sourabh Varma 21-15 17-21 21-11 in a 55-minute match to keep his Olympic qualification bid on track. The Mumbai shuttler will take on world number one Lee Chong Wei in the second round tomorrow.
His compatriot P Kashyap also kept his hopes alive by notching up a comfortable 21-11 21-14 victory over Belgium Yuhan Tan to set up a clash with Boonsak Poonsana of Thailand.
In other women’s singles matches, Neha Pandit crossed the first hurdle, beating Malaysian Jing Yi Tee 21-18 9-21 21-19 in a 48-minute match, while P V Sindhu notched up a 17-21 19-21 win over Chinese Taipei’s Tzu Ying Tai.
In men’s doubles competition, Manish Gupta and Gaurav Venkat prevailed over compatriot Sanjeeth S and Jagadish Yadav 21-14 15-21 21-15, while top Indian pair of Rupesh Kumar and Sanave Thomas also reached the second round after their top seed opponents Jae Sung Jung and Yong Dae Lee of Korea gave a walkover.
However, it was curtains for world number 16 Indians V Diju and Jwala Gutta, who were looking to book a berth for the London Olympics. The Indian duo lost 18-21 19-21 to Chinese pair of Tao Jiaming and Xia Huan in a 35-minute match. (PTI)
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