Reigning world champion PV Sindhu made an early exit from the China Open losing to Pornpawee Chochuwong of Thailand in the women’s singles pre-quarterfinals in Changzhou. The Olympic silver medallist squandered the first-game advantage to go down 12-21, 21-13, 21-19 to Pornpawee in a match that lasted 58 minutes. In men’s singles, B Sai Praneeth entered the quarterfinals defeating Lu Guang Zu of China 21-19, 21-19.
Doubles specialist Satwiksairaj Rankireddy also had a dismal day as he suffered twin defeats, losing both the men’s doubles and mixed doubles pre-quarterfinals. In men’s doubles, Satwik and Chirag Shetty, ranked 15th in the world, ran out of steam after a decent start against fourth-seeded Japanese pair of Takeshi Kamura and Keigo Sonoda.
The duo went down 19-21, 8-21 in the 33-minute match. Satwik then paired up with his mixed doubles partner Ashwini Ponanappa but the duo couldn’t get past Yuki Kaneko and Misaki Matsutomo.