SportsBadminton
Sindhu survives Katethong fightback in Paris as Ayush Shetty knocks out Srikanth
Sindhu let an 11-point lead slip in the decider before winning 23-21 at the French Open. Lakshya Sen withdrew before his first-round match, handing Kodai Naraoka a walkover.
Key points
- P V Sindhu beat Supanida Katethong 21-14, 8-21, 23-21 after leading 19-8 in the third game.
- Ayush Shetty beat former world No. 1 Kidambi Srikanth in three games.
- Lakshya Sen gave a walkover to Japan's Kodai Naraoka.
P V Sindhu nearly let a winning position slip away before reaching the second round of the French Open in Paris on Wednesday. The Indian beat Thailand’s Supanida Katethong 21-14, 8-21, 23-21 in 64 minutes, after leading 19-8 in the deciding game.
Katethong won 11 points in a row to draw level at 19-19, turning what had looked a routine finish into a test of nerve. Sindhu held on to take it 23-21 and improve her record against the Thai to six wins in 10 meetings. She will next face Japan’s Riko Gunji, who beat India’s Unnati Hooda 21-18, 12-21, 21-17.
Ayush beats Srikanth
The biggest Indian result of the day came in an all-Indian men’s singles match. Ayush Shetty beat former world No. 1 Kidambi Srikanth 19-21, 21-16, 21-12. Srikanth led by four points early in the decider, but Ayush was ahead 11-9 at the change of ends and pulled away with seven points in a row from 14-12.
Ayush’s reward is a second-round match against Japan’s sixth seed Kodai Naraoka, who went through without hitting a shuttle. Lakshya Sen withdrew before their first-round match. He was reported to have pulled out as a precaution, carrying fatigue and muscle tightness from the Denmark Open the previous week.
Exits elsewhere
Devika Sihag went out in three games to Indonesia’s fifth seed Putri Kusuma Wardani, and sisters Rutaparna and Swetaparna Panda lost 21-6, 21-11 to Japan’s Ririna Hiramoto and Chiharu Shida in the women’s doubles.
Tanvi Sharma and Ashmita Chaliha had already reached the second round on Tuesday, a day when Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, and Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand, lost their opening matches.