Sydney, Aug 4: advanced to the second round of the Australia Open after registering win in her women’s singles match at the State Sports Centre, Sydney on Wednesday, August 2. Sindhu, who has been struggling for form this year, defeated compatriot Ashmita Chaliha 21-18, 21-13 to make the women’s singles round of 16.She will face another compatriot Aakarshi Kashyap, who made it to the second round with a 21-15, 21-17 win over Malaysia’s world No. 34 Goh Jin Wei. In the men’s singles, Srikanth beat world No. 14 Japanese shuttler Kenta Nishimoto of Japan 21-18, 21-7. He will play Su Li Yang of Chinese Taipei in the second round on Thursday.
Prannoy, India’s highest-ranked singles shuttler, fended off a challenge from world No. 15 Lee Cheuk Yiu from Hong Kong to win 21-18, 16-21, 21-15. The world no. 9 Indian will next take on Chinese Taipei’s Chi Yu Jen.
Meanwhile, the 2021 world championships bronze medallist Lakshya Sen retired mid-way into his first-round match against countryman Kiran George. Mithun Manjunath, however, registered a shock 21-19, 21-19 straight-games win over former world champion Loh Kean Yew of Singapore.