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India had a bittersweet day at the Swiss Open as PV Sindhu registered a straight-game win while Saina Nehwal was beaten by Phittayaporn Chaiwan to crash out of the opening round on Wednesday.
Rio Olympics silver medallist Sindhu cruised through her Turkish opponent Yigit Neslihan 21-16, 21-19 in a see-saw encounter that lasted 42 minutes.
Sindhu will now face World No. 40 Iris Wang of the USA in the round-of-16 on Thursday.
Also Read: Saina, Sindhu poised for Swiss Open semifinal clash as Olympic qualifying period resumes
Later in the day, Glasgow World Championships bronze medallist and former World No. 1 Saina failed to advance to the second round of the Swiss Open. She went down fighting to World No. 31 Phittayaporn Chaiwan of Thailand 21-16, 17-21, 23-21.
Mixed day for Indian men's singles shuttlers
Former Swiss Open champion Kidambi Srikanth conceded a first-game advantage to compatriot Sameer Verma. But the former came out all guns blazing to win the remaining two games and make a winning start to his campaign with a score of 18-21, 21-18, 21-11.
Srikanth, seeded fourth, will take on Thomas Rouxel of France in the round-of-16 on Thursday.
Also Read: Kidambi Srikanth, Ajay Jayaram advance to Swiss Open second round, HS Prannoy exits
His fellow men's singles shuttler, Sourabh Verma brushed aside Switzerland's Christian Kirchmayr 21-19, 21-18 in what was the duo's first-ever meeting. Verma will square up against eighth-seeded Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand in the round-of-16.
Another Indian in the fray, World No. 60 Ajay Jayaram stunned Thailand's Sitthikom Thammasin 21-12, 21-13 to sail into the second round where he will play third seed Rasmus Gemke of Denmark.
On the adjacent court, HS Prannoy failed to break the rhythm of France's Mark Caljouw to go down fighting 19-21, 21-9, 17-21.
Parupalli Kashyap also suffered an early-round exit with a 15-21, 15-21,10-21 loss against Spain's Pablo Abian.
Also making his first-round exit at the Swiss Open was young Lakshya Sen, who went down tamely to Denmark’s Victor Svendsen 16-21, 12-21.
In the men's doubles category, the second-seeded Indian pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty notched up an impressive 21-18,19-21, 21-16 win over Scotland's Christopher Grimley and Matthew Grimley.
The women's doubles pair of Ashwini Ponnappa and N. Sikki Reddy registered an easy 21-5, 21-19 win to knock out Annabella Jaeger and Stine Kuspert of Germany.
Also Read: Ponnappa and Satwik knock out second-seeded Indonesian pair in Swiss Open first round
However, it was the end of the road for Pranaav Jerry Chopra and N. Sikki Reddy in the mixed doubles category at the Tokyo Olympic qualifier Swiss Open. The Indian pair lost to the third-seeded pair of Marcus Ellis and Lauren Smith 18-21, 15-21 in a 39-minute battle.
