Muristek
Jakarta, June 14
Two-time Olympics medallist PV Sindhu made a shock first-round exit from the Indonesia Open Super 1000 event after suffering a straight-game defeat to China's He Bingjiao here today.
Sindhu, seeded seventh, lost 14-21 18-21 to Bingjiao in the women's singles.
With this win, world No. 9 Bingjiao, whom Sindhu had defeated at the Badminton Asia Championships, leads the Indian 10-8 on head-to-head record.
The defeat at the Istora Gelora Bung Karno Stadium could also disrupt Sindhu's preparations for the next month's Commonwealth Games. Also bowing out was B Sai Praneeth, who lost 16-21 19-21 to Hans-Kristian Solberg Vittinghus of Denmark in the men's singles. However, Sameer Verma moved to the next round with an easy 21-19 21-15 win over France's Thomas Rouxel in 45 minutes. The women's doubles pairing of Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy advanced to the pre-quarterfinals, with a 21-15 21-8 win over the Indo-US pair Ishika Jaiswal and Srivedya Gurazada.
The mixed doubles pair of Ishaan Bhatnagar and Tanisha Crasto crashed out in the opening round, losing 14-21 11-21 to Hong Kong's Chang Tak Ching and NG Wing Yung Hong in just 32 minutes.