Saina, Srikanth, Prannoy advance into second round of Denmark Open

In the Denmark Open badminton tournament at Odense, ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal knocked out Olympic champion Carolina Marin of Spain in the opening round of women's singles competition. Saina defeated Marin in straight games 22-20 21-18. 

In the men's singles, Kidambi Srikanth and H S Prannoy also made positive start to the tournament. World number eight Srikanth overcame a spirited challenge from compatriot qualifier Subhankar Dey in straight games 21-17-21-15 to set up a clash with Korean Jeon Hyeok Jin. 

In another game, World number 15 Prannoy recovered from a 6-11 deficit in the second game to oust Denmark's



Emil Holst 21-18 21-19. Prannoy is likely to play former World No. 1 Malaysian Lee Chong Wei today.

However, B Sai Praneeth crashed out in the opening round losing to Hans-Kristian Solberg Vittinghus of Denmark in a lop-sided contest.

Young doubles specialist Satwiksairaj Rankireddy also suffered twin defeats in mixed and men's doubles competition to end his campaign. Satwik and his mixed doubles partner Ashwini Ponnappa,were ousted by local combo of Niclas Nohr and Sara Thygesen.

In men's doubles, Satwik and Chirag Shetty, failed to get across Korean pair of Chung Eui Seok and Kim Dukyoung.