Swiss Open: Sindhu fails in first round, Kidambi moves to pre-quarters

Basel [Switzerland], March 20 (ANI): Two-time Olympic medalist and former world champion PV Sindhu made a first-round exit from the ongoing Swiss Open badminton tournament on Wednesday, continuing her horror run on Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour this year.
Sindhu, the world number 17, lost to world number 31 Julie Jakobsen 21-17, 21-19 in a 61-minute match, as per Olympics.com.
With this loss, Sindhu has registered her third successive first-round exit during this year.
She started the year by reaching the quarterfinals of the Indian Open, but could not make it past round one in the Indonesia Masters, All England Open and now the Swiss Open, which she won back in 2022.
Coming to the men's singles competition, Kidambi Srikanth overcame a tough match against compatriot HS Prannoy during the opening round, beating him in a toughly-contested 23-21, 23-21.
Srikanth, who has dropped down to 49th place in the men's singles world rankings, will be facing world number six of China, Li Shifeng in his round of 16 match.
Qualifier Sankar Subramanian, the world number 64, reached the second round in the men's singles, defeating Magnus Johannesen with a dominant scoreline of 21-5, 21-16. Now, he will be facing Denmark's world number two star, Anders Antonsen.
In the women's singles, Anupama Upadhyaya and Isharani Baruah were among the progressing players, with Anumpama defeating rising Indian star nmol Kharb 21-14, 21-13 before Isharani Baruah went past Aakarshi Kashyap by a 21-18, 17-21, 20-22.
The rest of the Indian badminton players, including Malvika Bansod, Kiran George and Ayush Shetty, could not make it past the first round.
Swiss Open 2025 badminton: India's Day 2 results
-Men's singles
Ayush Shetty lost to Kenta Nishimoto (JPN) 21-15, 21-19
Kidambi Srikanth beat HS Prannoy 23-21, 23-21
Sankar Subramanian beat Magnus Johannesen (DEN) 21-5, 21-16
Kiran George lost to Rasmus Gemke (DEN) 21-18, 17-21, 10-21
-Women's singles
Isharani Baruah beat Aakarshi Kashyap 21-18, 17-21, 20-22
R Santhosh Ramraj lost to Line Christophersen (DEN) 21-11, 21-17
Malvika Bansod lost to Michelle Li (CAN) 20-22, 21-14, 21-19
PV Sindhu lost to Julie Jakobsen (DEN) 21-17, 21-19
-Mixed doubles
Ayush Agarwal/Shruti Mishra lost to Pakkapon Teeraratsakul/Phataimas Muenwong (THA) 21-18, 21-9
Ashith Surya/Amrutha Pramuthesh lost to Zhu Yi Jun/Zhang Chi (CHN) 21-10, 21-9
Sathish Karunakaran/Aadya Variyatth beat Koceila Mammeri/Tanina Mammeri (ALG) 21-15, 22-20. (ANI)