Saina Nehwal, Prannoy, Lakshya into second round of India Open; Jayaram bows out

India's Saina Nehwal, H. S. Prannoy and Lakshya Sen moved into the second round of USD 400,000 India Open, while India's Ajay Jayaram crashed out with a 21-19, 7-21, 14-21 loss to Nhat Nguyen.

Saina Nehwal in action during her first-round contest on Wednesday. - BAI

A understandably-rusty Saina Nehwal fought off a game-point to clinch the only completed game of her campaign-opener in the $400,000 India Open badminton here on Wednesday.

Saina, seeded four, was not required to do much after bouncing back from 19-20 against Tereza Svabikova to win 22-20. Trailing 0-1 in the second game, the player from Czech Republic retired due to excruciating back pain.

The 25th-ranked Saina was happy to get some serious practice against an opponent ranked a distant 142. Despite leading 7-2 and 16-10, Saina could not prevent her rival from catching at 17 and then moving ahead by a point thrice to reach game point. Saina got out of trouble with
some clever net-play and added the last two points to take the game.

After the match, Saina said, “For me, match practice is lacking. She was giving me a good fight but unfortunately she got injured.” Saina revealed she started training only a week ago after dealing with a troubled right knee that forced her to miss the World Championship in
December.

H.S. Prannoy in action in the opening round of the India Open 2022.

 

Prannoy dominates

At the K. D. Jadhav Hall, where the first-round matches ended after two days of action, the percentage of an already-large Indian presence in the men’s singles draw improved after Lakshya Sen, H. S. Prannoy and Mithun Manjunath advanced at the expense of overseas rivals.

Further, the surprise defeat of seventh seed and 28th ranked and 2014 World championship bronze medallist Indonesia’s Tommy Sugiarto to Malaysia’s Ng Tze Yong, ranked 60th, has brightened the prospect of an Indian being in the final.

In women's doubles, second seeds Ashwini Ponnappa and N. Sikki Reddy unexpectedly dropped a game to young compatriots Janani Ananthakumar and Divya R. Balasubramanian.

After the withdrawal of the top seeds, Ashwini and Sikki are widely expected to win the title in a very weak field, filled with inexperienced, home-grown combinations.

For the second seeds in men’s doubles Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, the passage was smooth against Ravi and Chirag Arora. However, seventh seeds Krishna Prasad and Vishunuvardhan Goud lost.