Saina, Sindhu ease through, Prannoy survives a scare

Hong Kong, November 23
Saina Nehwal, PV Sindhu and HS Prannoy made positive starts to their campaigns, progressing to the second round of the $400,000 Hong Kong Super Series here today.
World No. 11 Saina staved off a spirited challenge from world No. 44 Mette Poulsen of Denmark before winning 21-19 23-21 in a 46-minute match. Saina will next face eighth-seeded Chinese Chen Yufei, who had clinched a bronze medal at the World Championships in August.
Second seed Sindhu eased past Hong Kong’s Leung Yuet Yee 21-18 21-10.
Prannoy survived a scare against Hong Kong’s Hu Yun to win 19-21 21-17 21-15 in a match that lasted a little over an hour.
However, Parupalli Kashyap went down 21-15 9-21 20-22 to Korean Lee Dong Keun, while Sourabh Verma failed to put up a fight against Indonesia’s Tommy Sugiarto, losing 15-21 8-21. B Sai Praneeth lost 8-21 16-21 to second seed Son Wan Ho of Korea.
The women’s doubles pair of Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy played their hearts out before going down 11-21 21-19 19 -21 against China’s Huang Dongping and Li Wenmei.
The men’s doubles pair of Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy went down fighting to Khim Wah Lim of Malaysia and Yoo Yeon Seong of Korea (17-21 17-21) in the opening round.