Denmark Open 2021: Indian shuttlers begin campaign on positive note

Most of the players from the nation collected victories in their opening fixtures of the tournament.

PV Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth were some of the many badminton players from India who won their contests on Tuesday at the Denmark Open 2021. Sameer Verma was also among the victors on the opening day of the prestigious tournament which is taking place in Odense, Denmark. On the other hand, the doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty also managed to win their first round match.

While the overall result was positive, there were a few setbacks too. Sai Praneeth ended up on the losing side while the pair of Manu Attri and Sumeeth Reddy also tasted defeat. The Indians are going to face tougher opposition as they advance into the deeper stages of the tournament.

Impressive performance in the singles bracket

Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu cruised past her opponent from Turkey in the first round in the women’s singles category. The fourth seed won the tie against Neslihan Yigit by a 21-12, 21-10 scoreline. It only took 30 mins for the Indian to decimate her opponent in straight games. Sindhu will now face Busanan Ongbamrungphan of Thailand in the next round of the Denmark Open.

In men’s singles, the all-Indian clash involving Kidambi Srikanth and B Sai Praneeth saw the former emerge victorious. The tie lasted 30 minutes in which Srikanth defeated his compatriot 21-14, 21-11. Srikanth will be up against world No. 1 Kento Momota in the second round.

Sameer Verma also secured an easy victory against Kunlavut Vitidsarn in the first round of the Denmark Open. The scoreline read 21-17,21-14 in the favour of the Indian. Sameer will now face Anders Antonsen of Denmark in the next round.

Mixed bag in the doubles matches

There were some notable performances in the doubles bracket by the Indians. In contrast to the other results, the pair of Manu Attri and Sumeeth Reddy suffered a loss against Sze Fei Goh and Nur Izzuddin of Malaysia. The Indians lost in straight games as the scores read 21-18, 21-11 in their opponent’s favour.

However, the impressive pairing of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty defeated Callum Hemming and Steven Stallwood. The duo won the contest 23-21, 21-15 to move into the next round. Following up on that win, another match in the men’s doubles saw M.R. Arjun and Dhruv Kapila defeating the English pair of Ben Lane and Sean Vendy. The match lasted for 39 minutes and the scores read 21-19, 21-15 in the favour of the Indians. 

Over at the mixed doubles bracket, Dhruv Kapila and N. Sikki Reddy had to dig deep to win their contest. The Indians went down after losing the first game but emerged victorious by making a great comeback. They defeated Pang Ron Hoo and Yee See Cheah of Malaysia by a 14-21, 21-17, 21-18 scoreline.

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