PV Sindhu, Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth advance to second round of Swiss Open Badminton

Basel: Ace Indian shuttlers PV Sindhu, Saina Nehwal,  Kidambi Srikanth, Parupalli Kashyap, and young Ashmita Chaliha sailed into the second round of Swiss Open Badminton tournament at St. Jakobshalle at Basel in Switzerland yesterday. PV Sindhu, a two-time Olympic medallist, defeated Line Kjaersfeldt of Denmark 21-14, 21-12 in the opening round of Women's Singles. Second seed Sindhu will take on World Number 30 Neslihan Yigit of Turkey in the next round today. 

London Olympics bronze medallist Saina Nehwal registered an easy 21-8, 21-13 win over French Yaelle Hoyaux, while Ashmita Chaliha defeated Leonice Huet of France 19-21, 21- 10, 21-11 in the first round of Women's Singles. Saina will face Kisona Selvaduray of Malaysia while Chaliha will meet eighth-seed Kirsty Gilmour of Scotland in the second round today. 

In the Men's Singles, Kidambi Srikanth defeated Danish Mads Christophersen 21-16, 21-17 while Parupalli trounced Frenchman Enogat Roy 21-17, 21-9 in the first round. Seventh



seed Srikanth will play Christo Popov of France while Parupalli will meet top seed Viktor Axelsen of Denmark in the next round today.

In an all-India contest, HS Prannoy edged past B Sai Praneeth 25-23, 21-16. Prannoy will be up against Kalle Koljonen of Finland today. Sameer Verma will play Azerbaijan's Ade Resky Dwicahyo in the second round today. Men’s Doubles Pair of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy stunned All England Open Champions Muhammad Shohibul Fikri and Bagas Maulana to progress into the next round. 

The third seed Indian pair will meet Pramudya Kusumawardana and Yeremia Erich Yoche Yacob Rambitan of Indonesia today. Another Indian Men's doubles pair of Ishaan Bhatnagar and Sai Pratheek K will lock horns with fourth seed Indonesian duo of Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto. Women's doubles pair of Ashwini Ponnappa and N. Sikki Reddy will take on  American Iris Wang and her German partner Yvonne Li today.