Sindhu, Saina, Srikanth, Prannoy advance at Japan Open

Tokyo: Olympic badminton medallists P.V. Sindhu and Saina Nehwal, Kidambi Srikanth, H.S. Prannoy and the mixed doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Ashwini Ponappa advanced to the second round of Japan Open Superseries here on Wednesday. Sindhu battled past Japanese Minatsu Mitani 12-21, 21-15, 21-17 in an hour and three minutes to set-up a second-round clash against reigning world champion Nozomi Okuhara of Japan on Thursday. Olympic medallists Sindhu and Okuhara share four wins apiece in career meetings and have recently developed an enthralling rivalry. While Okuhara got the better of Sindhu at the World Championships final in August in Glasgow, the Hyderabadi hit back at the Korea Open in Seoul last weekend. Another intriguing duel on Thursday will be between London Olympic bronze medallist Saina Nehwal and 2016 Olympic champion Carolina Marin of Spain. Saina leads the head-to-head record against the Spaniard by 4-3. Saina on Wednesday moved past Thai Pornpawee Chochuwong 21-17, 21-9 in 40 minutes, while two-time world champion Marin breezed past Chinese Chen Xiaoxin 21-11, 21-11. Eighth-seed Srikanth fought off China's Tian Houwei 21-15, 12-21, 21-11 in an hour and four minutes. After this win, Srikanth, India's best bet in the men's singles category, will take on Chinese Hu Yun. Prannoy got the better of Denmark's Anders Antonsen 21-12, 21-14 in 37 minutes. The Indian will face Chinese Taipei's Hsu Jen Hao for a place in the quarter-finals. Sameer Verma also moved into the second round as he registered a 21-12 21-19 victory over Thailand's Khosit Phetpradab. Sameer will meet Shi Yuqi of Japan on Thursday.