Odense (Denmark), Oct 16 (IANS) Saina Nehwal, R.M.V. Gurusaidutt and Ajay Jayaram began well while compatriot P.V. Sindhu was sent packing in the Denmark Open Superseries Premier badminton tournament here Wednesday.
World No.4 Saina defeated 64th-ranked Stefani Stoeva of Bulgaria 21-16, 21-12 in the women’s singles first round. The top-ranked Indian next faces Scot Kirsty Gilmour.
Tenth-ranked Sindhu lost a hard fought battle against No.18 Eriko Hirose from Japan, 19-21, 20-22 in 50 minutes.
Number 25 Jayaram pulled off one of the biggest upsets on the day, dismissing Thailand’s World No.8 Boonsak Ponsana 21-11, 21-14 in the men’s singles first round.
In the next round, he meets compatriot — and World No.24 — R.M.V. Gurusaidutt who shocked No.11 Yun Hu of Hong Kong 21-17, 21-14.
Parupalli Kashyap, India’s highest-ranked player at 13, did not have to do much in his opener. He advanced in the competition after his opponent Darren Liew retired while the Indian was leading 11-4 in the first game.
