Odense: India’s top lady shuttler Saina Nehwal was able to overcome the challenge of Bulgaria’s Stefani Stoeva to reach the second round of the Denmark Open Badminton Championship.
The defending champion defeated her Bulgarian opponent by 21-16, 21-12 but world number 10 Sindhu failed to clear the first-round hurdle in the women’s singles competition.
World championship bronze medallist, Sindhu played her heart out before losing 19-21, 20-22 to Japan’s Eriko Hirose in a 50-minute contest.
In the men’s singles, Kashyap reached the second round after his opponent Daren Liew of Malaysia retired midway at 11-4.
Ajay Jayaram beat eight seed Boonsak Ponsana of Thailand 21-11 21-14, while RMV Gurusaidutt notched up a 21-17, 21-14 victory over Hong Kong’s Yun Hu in other men’s singles opening round matches.
However, women’s singles player Arundhati Pantawane bowed out of the first round after suffering a 17-21, 15-21 loss to top seed Xuerui Li of China.
Men’s doubles pair of Manu Attri and Sumeeth Reddy B lost 14-21 14-21 to German combo of Michael Fuchs and Johannes Schoettler in a 29-minute match.
Saina dished out a dominating game as she used her smashes and net play to prevail over her Bulgarian rival. The Indian opened up a 3-0 lead and then extended it to 11-6 before moving to 17-8. She pocketed the opening game.
In the second game, the Hyderabadi surged ahead to a 5-1 lead and then slowly and steadily moved ahead to seal the victory.
