Japan Open Super Series: PV Sindhu, HS Prannoy, Kidambi Srikanth progress into second round 

It was a good day for Indian shuttlers as PV Sindhu, HS Prannoy, Kidambi Srikanth progressed into the second round of Japan Super Series 750 level tournament played in Tokyo.

In the men’s singles, HS Prannoy took on Asian Games gold medallist Jonathan Christie. It was a dominating performance by HS Prannoy as he outplayed his opponent and won the match in straight games 21-18, 21-17 to move into the second round. He will face Anthony Ginting in the second round.

After a disappointing loss in the first round of Asian Games 2018, Kidambi Srikanth impressed everyone with his strokeplay with a 21-13, 21-15 win over Chinese Yuxiang Huang. He will face Wong Wing Ki in the second round.

The winner of Hyderabad Open 2018, Sameer Verma lost to Korean Lee Dong-keun in three sets. It was a close fought match with Lee Lee Dong-keun winning the first set 21-18. The Indian made a strong comeback with both players fighting for each point before Sameer Verma won the second set 22-20. The third set was a one-sided affair with Lee Lee Dong-keun winning it 21-10 to progress into the second round.

The Asian Games silver medallist PV Sindhu struggled before winning the match in three games against Japanese Takahashi. In the first game, PV Sindhu looked in complete control winning the first set 21-17. It was a disappointing performance by the star Indian shuttler who made a lot of mistakes losing by 7-21 to force the match into a decider. In the deciding game, PV Sindhu showed her class winning the third set 21-13 to move into the second round. She will face Gao Fangjie of China in the second round.

Vaishnavi Reddy Jakka lost to her Chinese opponent Gao Fangjie in straight sets 10-21, 8-21 and was knocked out of the tournament.