MALANG (INDONESIA) (TIP): Top seeds P V Sindhu and K Srikanth notched up contrasting victories to advance to the third round of the $120,000 Indonesia Masters Grand Prix Gold tournament on December 4.
Sindhu, who clinched the Macau Open Grand Prix Gold last week, brushed aside Indonesia’s Wulan Cahya Utami Sukuputri 21-12, 21-9 in a women’s singles match.
The two-time bronze medallist at World Championships, Sindhu next takes on the winner of the match between seventh seed Jang Mi Lee and China‘s He Bingjiao at the Gedung Graha Cakrawala on Friday.
In men’s singles, World No. 9 Srikanth, who has qualified for the BWF Super Series Finals, survived a scare before prevailing over Indonesia’s Saputra Vicky Angga 21-14, 17-21, 25-23 in a match that lasted an hour and five minutes. He will next take on China’s Qiao Bin.
Eighth seed RMV Gurusaidutt also reached the third round with a 21-19, 19-21, 21-15 win over Singapore’s Kean Yew Loh to set up a clash against Malaysia’s Iskandar Zulkarnain Zainuddin later in the day.
However, it was end of road for third seed HS Prannoy, who had won the title last year when it was hosted by Jakabaring Sport City, Palembang. The Indian lost 12-21, 22-20, 13-21 to Shi Yuqi of China.