PV Sindhu on Tuesday advanced to the second round of the women’s singles event at the Singapore Open with a straight games win over fifth seed Patri Kusuma Vardani.The 30-year-old two-time Olympic medalist defeated the world no. 6 Indonesian 21-17 21-18 in the opening round of the USD 10,00,000 Super 750 tournament.Former world champion Sindhu will next face Japan’s Riku Ganji.In the men’s doubles, Asian Games gold medalists Sairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty also advanced by defeating Malaysia’s Chen Zee Yee and Presley Smith 26-28 21-15 21-13 in the opening round.The world No. 4 Indian pair will next play either Chinese Taipei’s Li Jae-hui and Yang Po Hswan or China’s Liu Yang and Huang Di.However, Ayush Shetty crashed out of the tournament after losing 21-11 14-21 12-21 to World Championship bronze medalist Viktor Axelsen in the 65-minute men’s singles event.Young Indian Onati Hooda also suffered a first-round defeat, losing 14-21 10-21 to former world junior champion and eighth seed Tomoka Miyazaki in the women’s singles.In women’s doubles, India’s Kuipriya Selom and Simran Singhi lost to Spain’s Paula Lopez and Lucia Rodriguez in 48 minutes 21-18 13-21 5-21.Another Indian pair, Ashwini Bhatt K and Shikha Gautam lost 16-21 11-21 to Chinese Taipei’s Chang Chung Hui and Yang Chung Tun.Japan’s seventh-seeded pair Takuro Hoki and Yugo Kobayashi defeated India’s Hariharan Amsakaronen and MR Arjun 21-15 21-13 in another men’s doubles match.In mixed doubles, India’s Rohan Kapoor and Ruthvika Shivanigude suffered a 18-21 20-22 defeat to Chinese Taipei’s Yang Po Han and Hu Ling Fang in the opening round.Sindhu’s win against Vardani was significant as she had lost to the Indonesian twice last year at the World Championship and Sudirman Cup.On Tuesday, Sindhu raced to a 4-0 lead before Vardani fought back to level at 7-7 and later led 15-11.Sindhu then won six of the last seven points to take the opening game.The second game was even, with both players exchanging leads regularly. Sindhu led 13-11 before Vardani leveled again.The Indians held firm in the latter stages and finished the match in straight games.Lakshya Sen, HS Prannoy and Malvika Bansod will start their campaign on Wednesday.
