Birmingham, March 16: Ace Indian women shuttlers PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal advanced to the second round of the BWF Super 1000 All England Open Badminton Championships with straight sets opening round win here on Wednesday. Two-time Olympic medalist Sindhu defeated China’s Wang Zhi Yi 21-18, 21-13. While Nehwal outplayed Beatriz Corrales of Spain 21-17, 21-19 here at Utilita Arena, Birmingham. Sindhu will lock horns with the winner of the match between Supanida Katethong of Thailand and Sayaka Takahashi of Japan. Nehwal will take on Kristin Kuuba or second seed Akane Yamaguchi. In the men’s singles, three Indian shuttlers failed to enter round two after losing their respective first round matches. Sai Praneeth lost 20-22, 11-21 to Viktor Axelsen of Denmark. Sameer Verma went down 18-21, 11-21 to Mark Callow of France. HS Prannoy suffered 15-21, 22-24 loss at the hands of Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand, who defeated Lakshya Sen in the German Open final to clinch the title on Sunday. The experienced women’s doubles team of Ashwini Ponappa and N Sikki Reddy also faced an early exit after losing to 9-21, 13-21 to Japanese pair of Rin Iwanaga and Kie Nakanishi. UNI
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