Pranaav, Sikki ease through

India’s mixed doubles pair of Pranaav Jerry Chopra and N Sikki Reddy reached the second round but it was curtains for men’s singles shuttlers at the Singapore Super Series here on Wednesday.

Pranaav and Sikki prevailed 21-15, 21-17 over Indonesian pair of Irfan Fadhilah and Weni Anggraini. They will next take on fourth seeded Chinese combo of Xu Chen and Ma Jin.

However, it turned out to be a disastrous day for the men’s singles shuttlers — Kidambi Srikanth, H S Prannoy and Ajay Jayaram — as all of them bowed out in the opening round.

Prannoy produced some quality badminton but his efforts were not enough against the All England Champion. Chen Long won 21-18, 18-21, 19-21.

The Indian grabbed the opening game and also led 8-4 and 18-16 in the second and third games but the experienced Chinese made sure he had the last laugh.

Up against Hsu Jen Hao, Srikanth squandered an opening game advantage and a 9-7 lead in the second game to go down 21-11, 18-21, 18-21. Jayaram went down 17-21, 16-21 to the experienced Marc Zwiebler.

India’s women’s doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa continued their dismal run as they too crashed out in the opening round after a 18-21, 16-21 loss to Korean combo of Go Ah Ra and Yoo Hae Won.

In the singles, PV Sindhu continued her return to form with a nervy 9-21, 21-17, 21-11 win over Thailand’s Busanan Ongbumrungphan.