Indonesia open: Rajawat shows Prannoy the door, Lakshya eases into Rd 2
Jakarta, June 4
Star Indian shuttler Lakshya Sen and compatriot Priyanshu Rajawat entered the men’s singles second round of the Indonesia Open Super 1000 with straight-game wins over their respective rivals here today.
While Lakshya took just 40 minutes to get the better of Japan’s Kenta Tsuneyama 21-12 21-17 in an opening-round clash, Rajawat beat former world No. 6 HS Prannoy 21-17 21-12 in an all-Indian contest.
Lakshya, who sneaked into the Olympics qualification with back-to-back semifinals finishes at the French Open and All England Championships, will next be up against Japan’s Kenta Nishimoto. The Japanese stunned seventh seed Anthony Sinisuka Ginting of Indonesia 17-21 21-11 21-8 in another opening-round match.
Rajawat will take on eighth seed Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand next.
However, it was curtains for Kiran George in the men’s singles event, but not before giving a tough fight to Hong Yang Weng of China 21-11 10-21 20-22.
The Indian mixed doubles pair of B Sumeeth Reddy and Sikki Reddy had to battle hard before prevailing 18-21 21-16 21-17 over the American pair of Vinson Chiu and Jennie Gai in the opening round.
The Indian women’s doubles pair of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand also tasted success in the opening round, beating Chinese Taipei’s Yu-Pei Cheng and Yu Hsing Sun 21-15 21-11.
They will play seventh seeds Mayu Matsumoto and Wakana Nagahara of Japan next.
