Denmark Open: PV Sindhu and Aakarshi Kashyap advance, Kidambi Srikanth exits

In the Denmark Open Super 750 badminton tournament in Odense, Indian shuttlers had mixed fortunes.

PV Sindhu and Aakarshi Kashyap progressed to the women's singles second round, while Kidambi Srikanth was eliminated in the men's event.

Sindhu, a two-time Olympic medallist, faced a challenging opening round match against Scotland's Kirsty Gilmour, ranked 28th in the world. In a closely fought contest lasting 56 minutes, Sindhu managed to secure victory with a score of 21-14, 18-21, 21-10. In the next round, Sindhu will take on Indonesia's Gregoria Mariska Tunjung, the seventh seed. Although the Indonesian player has defeated Sindhu twice in their last three meetings, Sindhu maintains an overall head-to-head record of 8-2.

Aakarshi Kashyap, ranked 38th, staged an impressive comeback against Germany's Li Yvonne, ranked 26th globally. After losing the first game 10-21, Aakarshi fought back to win the next two games 22-20, 21-12. Her next challenge is against Thailand's Supanida Katethong, who is ranked 19th in the world and previously defeated Aakarshi in their only encounter at the Singapore Open this year.

Unfortunately, Kidambi Srikanth, the 2021 world championships silver medallist, faced disappointment in the men's singles opening round. He fought gallantly but ultimately lost to China's Weng Hong Yang, ranked 22nd globally, with a score of 21-19, 10-21, 16-21.

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, who recently clinched gold at the Asian Games, withdrew from the tournament. Consequently, their opponents, Ong Yew Sin and Teo Ee Yi from Malaysia, advanced to the second round by default.