World No 3 PV Sindhu recorded a straightforward win in the first round of the Indonesia Open Superseries Premier tournament on Tuesday, beating Thailand’s Pornpawee Chochuwong in two games. Sindhu won the match 21-12, 21-19 and needed just 33 minutes to do so. The 21-year-old Indian will next take on the United States’ Beiwen Zhang in the second round.
Earlier, Saina Nehwal sparked a remarkable fightback against Thailand Open champion Ratchanok Intanon to win their first-round match in three games. Nehwal, ranked 11th in the world, beat the eighth-placed Intanon 17-21, 21-18, 21-12 in a match that lasted 50 minutes.
India’s mixed doubles pair of Ashwini Ponappa and B Sumeeth Reddy were, however, knocked out in the first round by Indonesian qualifiers Irfan Fadhilah and Weni Anggraini.