New Delhi: Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu suffered yet another first-round exit as Lakshya Sen and the men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty cruised into the second round with resounding victories at the Japan Open in Tokyo on Wednesday.
Former world champion Sindhu was knocked out after suffering a 15-21, 14-21 defeat to Korea’s Sim Yu Jin in the Super 750 tournament. The 30-year-old has endured her fifth first-round exit this year.
Meanwhile, Satwik-Chirag and Lakshya progressed after register dominant straight-game wins.
Error-prone Sindhu slumps to first loss against Kim
Sindhu looked rusty right from the get goa and struggled to judge the pace and length. The former Olympic medallist showed some fight in the first game but Sim took advantage the Indian star’s error prone display and regained control to claim her first career win over the Hyderabad shuttler.
Sindhu briefly showed some fight, recovering from 1-6 to 11-11 in the second game but the Korean played some brilliant shots and pulled away eventually to seal the match in straight games.
Satwik-Chirag warm-up to opening-round win
Satwik and Chirag, currently ranked 15th in the world in men’s doubles rankings, edged past the Korean duo of Kang Min Hyuk and Kim Dong Ju 21-18, 21-10 in just 42 minutes.
The former world No. 1 duo started slowly but eventually held their composure against the Koreans, who gave a tough fight to the Indians.
It was all Satwik-Chirag in the second game, which got over in no time.
Meanwhile, Lakshya avoided another first-round exit with a sharp display against China’s Wang Zheng Xing. The world number 18 registered a commanding 21-11, 21-18 to move to the second round.
Lakshya was at his dominant best in the opening game, racing to an 11-2 lead before winning it comfortably.
Xing put on a better show in the second game but Lakshya rode on early momentum and closed out the match.
Lakshya will next face seventh seed and local favourite Kodai Naraoka in the Round of 16.