JAKARTA, June 13: Top Indian shuttlers PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal notched up contrasting wins to make a positive start to their campaign at the Indonesia Super Series Premier badminton tournament here today.
Fourth seed Sindhu brushed aside World No. 20 Pornpawee Chochuwong of Thailand 21-12, 21-19, while World No. 11 Saina rallied her way to a 17-21, 21-18, 21-12 win over the eighth seeded Thai Ratchanok Intanon in women�s singles.
Three-time champion Saina, who had a 7-5 head-to-head record against Ratchanok, will face another Thai player Nitchaon Jindapol in the next round. If Saina wins her next match, she is likely to clash with World No. 1 Tai Tzu Ying in the quarterfinals.
Olympics silver medallist Sindhu, who has won the Syed Modi Grand Prix Gold and India Super Series this season, will square off against USA�s Beiwen Zhang in the next round.
In mixed doubles, B Sumeeth Reddy and Ashwini Ponnappa suffered a 12-21, 9-21 loss to Indonesian combo of Irfan Fadhilah and Weni Anggraini to crash out of the tournament.
Saina made a good start to the match, leading 10-4 at one stage but she blew the advantage after the break as Ratchanok clawed her way back to 14-14 and then marched ahead to earn the bragging rights. � PTI
