File photo by PV Sindhu© AFP
Indian shuttle star PV Sindhu had to work hard to beat Denmark’s Line Christophersen in the first round of the women’s singles and enter the pre-quarterfinals of the Malaysia Masters on Wednesday. Sindhu, the sixth seed, had to push for an hour and two minutes to overcome Christophersen 21-13 17-21 21-18 and maintain her superiority over the world number one. 33 Dane, whom the Indian had defeated four times before. The two-time Indian Olympic medalist, ranked 13th in the world, will next play Japan’s Aya Ohori.
However, it was the curtain call for qualifiers Ashmita Chaliha and Aakarshi Kashyap in the women’s singles competition as they suffered straight game losses to fall in the first round.
While Ashmita lost 17-21 7-21 against fourth seed Yue Han of China, Aakarshi struck the gate against top seed Japan Akane Yamaguchi 17-21 12-21.
Among the Indian men, Kidambi Srikanth defeated Toma Junior Popov 21-12 21-16 to enter the second round of singles.
The next one will be against Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand, seeded eighth.
Later in the day, HS Prannoy will take on sixth seed Tien Chen Chou of Chinese Taipei, while Lakshya Sen will take on seventh seed Kean Yew Loh of Singapore in the first round of men’s singles.
Malvika Bansod will be in action against second seed Zhi Yi Wang of China in the women’s singles.
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