French Open: Sindhu, Srikanth enter Round Two; Prannoy out

K Srikanth and PV Sindhu

A determined PV Sindhu advanced to the women's singles second round after grinding out a three-game win over Canada's Michelle Li at French Open Super 750 badminton tournament on Wednesday. Sindhu, a double Olympic medallist, faced stiff competition from former world no. 8 Li but she managed to eke out a come-from-behind 20-22 22-20 21-19 win in a riveting opening round match that lasted an hour and 20 minutes at the Arena Porte de la Chapelle.

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Kidambi Srikanth too progressed to the men's singles second round with a stunning win over Chinese Taipei's Chou Tien Chen but HS Prannoy fell short to make an early exit. The World No. 24 Srikanth, who is racing against time to qualify for the Paris Olympics, outwitted 14th-ranked Chen 21-15, 20-22, 21-8 in a 66-minute opening round match for his third win over the Taiwanese shuttler in seven meetings.

In the next round, the 2021 world championships silver medallist Srikanth will fight it out against China's world No. 17 Lu Guang Zu, who ended the campaign of Prannoy with a fine 21-17, 21-17 win at the adjacent court. For Sindhu, who is playing only her second tournament since returning from a knee injury that she suffered in October last year in the same event, it was her 10th win over Li in 13 meetings.

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