Indian shuttler B Sai Praneeth kicked off his Japan Open 2019 campaign in style on July 23 while PV Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth start their respective single's campaign on July 24. Praneeth registered a dominating straight-sets victory over Japan's Kento Nishimoto in the first round of the tournament.
Praneeth, currently ranked 23rd in the world, won the match beating Nishimoto 21-17, 21-13 in the first round of the $750,000 tournament. The 26-year-old shuttler did not have a good time in the recently concluded Indonesia Open as he crashed out in the opening round of the tournament. He won this match in 42 minutes and looks to be in good form. India will hope that Praneeth will continue performing this way.
On the other hand, in the mixed doubles category, Indian pair Ashwini Ponappa and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy advanced to the second round after a comfortable win over German pair, Linda Efler and Marvin Seidel. The Indian duo demolished their opponents in 33 minutes with the scoreline 21-14, 21-19.
But, India faced disappointment in the men's doubles category as India's Attri Manu and Reddy B Sumeeth lost their match to their Malaysian opponents, Gho Sze Fei and Nur Izzuddin. The duo lost in straight sets as they could not pose any threat to their opponents. The scoreboard read 21-12, 21-16 as the Malaysians demolished their Indian opponents in less than an hour.
PV Sindhu will fight it out against China's Yue Han in the first-round fixture of the tournament. After losing in the final of the recently concluded Indonesia Open she is quite determined to break her trophy drought this year. She has not been in great form this year but she will definitely want to turn it around in this tournament. Another Indian, Samir Verma will face Denmark's Anders Antonsen.
