PV Sindhu, Parupalli Kashyap sail into Round 2 of Malaysia Open 2022

There were no wins in the Indian contingent in the doubles category on Day 2.

It was a day with variegated results at the Malaysia Open Super 750 for the Indian contingent. There were no winning outcomes in any of the doubles disciplines whereas it was an ‘all clear’ day in the singles categories.

Let’s have a deeper look at the results of the second day of the USD 750,000 event.

PV Sindhu cruised past Pornpawee Chochuwong in two straight games.

Two-time Olympic medallist and former world champion Pusarla Venkata Sindhu got the better of Thailand’s Pornpawee Chochuwong in a straight-game victory.

The Thai shuttler was unable to find answers to Sindhu’s game as the Indian moved Pornpawee around, covering all four corners of the court to take the first game 21-13.

The second game though saw the Thai shuttler coming back stronger to take a six-point lead at 16-10. However, the Indian northpaw held her nerve and scored five straight points to level the score at 17-17. Sindhu propelled ahead with the momentum to take the game and the match by 21-13, 21-7

Earlier on the day, former World No.1 Saina Nehwal was ousted by Iris Wang of America. Saina, who had won the previous encounter against her opponent, went down without a fight in two-straight games.

The London Olympics bronze medalist lost the first game 11-21 in no time. However, she looked like will bounce back in the second by keeping the scoreline levelled. But, it was Wang who went past her opponent and took the match 21-11, 21-17.

Parupalli Kashyap emerged victorious against Heo Kwanghee.

Former Commonwealth Games champion Parupalli Kashyap won in a convincing encounter against Heo Kwanghee of Korea. The Indian men’s singles player was only the second player after H.S Prannoy to qualify for the second round from the category.

It took only two games for the Indian player to book a place in the second round as he gave no chance to the Korean player to bounce back. The final scoreline of the game was 21-12, 21-17 in favour of the Indian player.

Ashwini Bhatt and Shikha Gautam also went down in the first round.

Indian young guns Ashwini Bhatt and Shikha Gautam lost in a pretty one-sided fashion against the two-time former World Champions Mayu Matsumoto and Wakana Nagahara of Japan in straight games.

The Indian pair was completely dominated by their opponents in both games. The Japanese pair restrained the young guns and didn’t allow them to inch closer as they triumphed convincingly with 21-11, 21-14 being the scoreline.

Another pair of Srivedya Gurazada and Ishika Jaiswal were given a walkover and will contest Round 2.

Mixed doubles challenge ended on the second day.

The mixed doubles pair of Sumeeth Reddy and Ashwini Ponnappa lost to Robin Tabeling and Selena Piek of Netherlands. The Indians came back with a close win at 21-19 after losing the first 15-21. However, the Dutch pair capitalized on building the lead right from the beginning in the deciding game and won the match 15-21, 21-19, 17-21.

With this defeat, the Indian contention in the mixed doubles discipline of the Malaysia Open also ended.

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