Chinese Taipei Open 2015 - Day 1 Results

PV Sindhu got off to a winning start on Day One of the Chinese Taipei Open

Indian shuttlers Kidambi Srikanth, P.V Sindhu and Sameer Verma made a winning start to their campaigns at the $200,000 Yonex Open Chinese Taipei Grand Prix Gold tournament by entering the second rounds of their respective categories here on Wednesday.However, the 25-year old R.M.V Gurusaidutt was not lucky enough as he faltered in the opening round to his Indonesian opponent.

World No. 3 Kidambi Srikanth, who won the Indian Open Superseries title in March got the better of his World ranked 47 Taipei rival Tzu Wei Wang as he won the match with ease by a scoreline of 21-17 21-15.

Srikanth was looking confident against his lower ranked opponent from the start of the opening game as he took a strong 4-point lead before the mid-game interval. Leading by 12-8, Srikanth grabbed the next two points in quick succession to further increase the lead. With such a huge lead in hand, Srikanth face absolutely no difficulty in closing the game 21-17.

20-year old Wang started the second game on a thumping note as he rallied to a 8-2 lead. However, the Guntur-born lad came back strongly to seal seven straight points after the mid-game interval. He then grabbed the first match point opportunity to draw the curtains on the challenge of the local boy.

Srikanth will now take on the World No. 78 Indonesian shuttler Ihsan Maulana Mustafa for a place in last sixteen.

Sameer Verma, a World ranked 141, defeated the local shuttler Kuo Po Cheng in the first round match. Verma, who is playing his first major tournament after the India Open in March defeated the World ranked 150 Taipei shuttler 20-22, 21-13, 21-13 in a match which lasted for 56 minutes. 22-year-old Indian has a huge task ahead as he will now take on the top seed and World No.1 Chen Long of China in the second round.

Meanwhile, the 25-year old R.M.V Gurusaidutt had to bite the dust as he lost to a qualifier and World ranked 243 Shesar Hiren 23-21 21-17 in a 41-minute match.This is Gurusaidutt’s second consecutive defeat in the first round. In Canada Open Grand Prix, he went down to Chinese ace Shi Yuqi in a completely one-sided affair.

Two-time World Championships bronze medalist and World No. 14 P.V Sindhu survived a scare against the World number 30 Indonesian shuttler Lindaweni Fanetri on her way to women’s singles second round.

Fanetri stretched the young Indian shuttler to limits in both the games. Sindhu, who was trailing by slightest of the margins at the mid-game interval of the opening game came back strongly as she sealed nine of the next fourteen points to take a commendable lead but the 26-year-old Indonesian crawled her way back to back level the scores to 19-all.

Sindhu kept her calm at the decisive moment as she clinched the next two points in a row to take a game advantage. She then won the second game by a same scoreline. She will now face the 3rd seed and Singapore Open Superseries runner-up Tai Tzu Ying of Taipei for a place in Quarterfinals.