PV Sindhu returns to Chinese Taipei's Sung Shuo-yun at the India Open. (PTI Photo) NEW DELHI: With her husband Venkata Datta Sai cheering from the stands, double Olympic medallist PV Sindhu found that extra gear at crucial junctures of the second game to get the better of Chinese Taipei’s Sung Shuo Yun 21-14, 22-20 and advance to the second round of the India Open Super 750 tournament at the KD Jadhav Indoor Stadium here on Tuesday.Sindhu is playing her first tournament since getting married in December last year. She missed the season-opener Malaysia Open Super 1000 in Kuala Lumpur last week. It was evident during the match that Sindhu was a bit rusty. There were several unforced errors during the second game. At one point, she was getting quite frustrated as Sung built a healthy 11-4 lead. Sindhu took a little break and had a courtside chat with her new coach Irwansyah Adi Pratama, a renowned Indonesian coach who is now in charge of the Indian women’s singles players.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!"The chat was mostly about hitting my strokes deep and making better use of the court. She (Sung) was able to dictate terms without moving much, and I had to break that rhythm of hers," Sindhu, who will now face Japan’s Manami Suizu in the second round, said.Soon after the chat, Sindhu changed the tempo and started hitting powerful ground strokes which caught Sung off guard. The shrieks and the ‘come-ons’ after every point were also back. Sindhu kept rallying, levelling at 17-17, 19-19 and 20-20 before converting her first match point to seal the win. "After a long break, it’s difficult to find rhythm but I’m happy to have won in straight games," the world No. 16 said.In men’s doubles, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, seeded seventh, overcame a few nervous moments to defeat Malaysia’s world No. 7 duo Man Wei Chong and Kai Wun Tee 23-21, 19-21, 21-16. After winning the closely-fought opening game, the Indian pair slipped in the second. Satwik and Chirag took an 11-9 lead in the third game, but the Malaysian pair kept things tight until 18-16, before the Indians won following two net errors from their opponents.The precociously talented Kiran George, who hails from Kochi and trains at the Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy in Bengaluru, saved three match points before securing a 21-19, 14-21, 27-25 win against Japan’s world No. 25 Yushi Tanaka. George was given a lastminute entry on Monday due to a spate of withdrawals from many top foreign players. Another last-minute entry, former world No. 1 Kidambi Srikanth, gave a walkover to his opponent Weng Hong Yang of China. In mixed doubles, Tanisha Crasto and Dhruv Kapila advanced with a 8-21, 21-19, 21-17 victory over Chinese Taipei’s Chen Cheng Kuan and Hsu Yin-Hui. However, the highly-rated women’s doubles pair of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand lost 21-23, 19-21 to Japan’s Arisa Igarashi and Ayako Sakuramoto.

PV Sindhu makes winning return, Satwik and Chirag survive tough test

PV Sindhu returns to Chinese Taipei’s Sung Shuo-yun at the India Open. (PTI Photo) NEW DELHI: With her husband Venkata Datta Sai cheering from the stands, double Olympic medallist PV Sindhu found that extra gear at crucial junctures of the second game to get the better of Chinese Taipei’s Sung Shuo Yun 21-14, 22-20 and […]

India Open: PV Sindhu makes winning return, Satwik and Chirag survive tough test

PV Sindhu returns to Chinese Taipei’s Sung Shuo-yun at the India Open. (PTI Photo)

NEW DELHI: With her husband Venkata Datta Sai cheering from the stands, double Olympic medallist PV Sindhu found that extra gear at crucial junctures of the second game to get the better of Chinese Taipei’s Sung Shuo Yun 21-14, 22-20 and advance to the second round of the India Open Super 750 tournament at the KD Jadhav Indoor Stadium here on Tuesday.
Sindhu is playing her first tournament since getting married in December last year. She missed the season-opener Malaysia Open Super 1000 in Kuala Lumpur last week. It was evident during the match that Sindhu was a bit rusty. There were several unforced errors during the second game. At one point, she was getting quite frustrated as Sung built a healthy 11-4 lead. Sindhu took a little break and had a courtside chat with her new coach Irwansyah Adi Pratama, a renowned Indonesian coach who is now in charge of the Indian women’s singles players.
Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!
“The chat was mostly about hitting my strokes deep and making better use of the court. She (Sung) was able to dictate terms without moving much, and I had to break that rhythm of hers,” Sindhu, who will now face Japan’s Manami Suizu in the second round, said.
Soon after the chat, Sindhu changed the tempo and started hitting powerful ground strokes which caught Sung off guard. The shrieks and the ‘come-ons’ after every point were also back. Sindhu kept rallying, levelling at 17-17, 19-19 and 20-20 before converting her first match point to seal the win. “After a long break, it’s difficult to find rhythm but I’m happy to have won in straight games,” the world No. 16 said.
In men’s doubles, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, seeded seventh, overcame a few nervous moments to defeat Malaysia’s world No. 7 duo Man Wei Chong and Kai Wun Tee 23-21, 19-21, 21-16. After winning the closely-fought opening game, the Indian pair slipped in the second. Satwik and Chirag took an 11-9 lead in the third game, but the Malaysian pair kept things tight until 18-16, before the Indians won following two net errors from their opponents.
The precociously talented Kiran George, who hails from Kochi and trains at the Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy in Bengaluru, saved three match points before securing a 21-19, 14-21, 27-25 win against Japan’s world No. 25 Yushi Tanaka. George was given a lastminute entry on Monday due to a spate of withdrawals from many top foreign players.
Another last-minute entry, former world No. 1 Kidambi Srikanth, gave a walkover to his opponent Weng Hong Yang of China. In mixed doubles, Tanisha Crasto and Dhruv Kapila advanced with a 8-21, 21-19, 21-17 victory over Chinese Taipei’s Chen Cheng Kuan and Hsu Yin-Hui. However, the highly-rated women’s doubles pair of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand lost 21-23, 19-21 to Japan’s Arisa Igarashi and Ayako Sakuramoto.