Indonesia Masters: PV Sindhu gets past first round, Sai Praneeth crashes out

Ace Indian shuttler PV Sindhu surpassed the initial hurdle of the Indonesia masters as she defeated China's Li Xuerui in the first round of the women's singles event here on Wednesday.

The 23-year-old registered a 22-24, 21-8, 21-17 victory over Xuerui to make a winning start to her campaign.

After losing the close first game, Sindhu made a solid comeback to clinch the next two games in a convincing fashion. The Rio Olympics gold medallist will next take on home girl Gregoria Mariska Tunjung in her second round clash.

Eighth seed Saina Nehwal also kick-started her journey in the competition with a win as she secured a 7-21 21-16 21-11 win over Indonesia's Dinar Dyah Ayustine in the first round. The next challenge for the former world number one will be Fitriani Fitriani of Indonesia.

In the men's singles event, while Kidambi Srikanth won the opening battle 21-12, 21-8 against Malaysia's Chong Wei Feng, Sai Praneeth crashed out after being defeated by Chen Long of China 21-21, 16-21.

Parupalli Kashyap is also knocked out of the tournament after being handed over a 12-21, 16-21 drubbing at the hands of Anthony Sinisuka of Indonesia.

Up next, Srikanth is slated to take on Kenta Nishimoto of Japan in their second-round clash of the tournament.

-ANI