Badminton: Saina, Prannoy win at All England Championship

Seasoned Indian ace Saina Nehwal and the fast-rising H S Prannoy notched up contrasting wins in the women’s and men’s singles competition respectively to reach the All England badminton championships’ second round at Barclaycard Arena. Olympic bronze medallist, Saina, seeded third, hardly broke a sweat before getting past Indonesia’s Bellaetrix Manuputty 21-8 21-12, while Prannoy eked out a hard-fought 16-21 21-8 21-18 win over France’s Brice Leverdez in the opening round last night. [caption id=“attachment_1806843” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Saina Nehwal. Getty[/caption] World No. 3 Saina will next take on Korean qualifier Kim Hyo Min, while Prannoy faces England’s Rajiv Ouseph in the second round. There was heartbreak for World No. 5 K Srikanth and Ajay Jayaram as they failed to cross the first hurdle and crashed out of the competition. While fourth seed Srikanth lost to Kento Momota of Japan 18-21 21-12 15-21 in an hour and six minutes match, Jayaram too fell by the wayside after more than an hour long match against China’s Tian Houwei 14-21 21-19 14-21. P Kashyap had also crashed out in the first round, while men’s doubles pair of Manu Attri-B Sumeeth Reddy registered a stunning win over seventh seeded Chinese duo of Chai Biao and Hong Wei. The 2010 Commonwealth Games gold medal winning pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponappa also reached the second round of women’s doubles competition. PTI