Report: Olympic badminton medallists PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal, Kidambi Srikanth, HS Prannoy and the mixed doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Ashwini Ponappa advanced to the second round of Japan Open Superseries on Wednesday. Sindhu battled past Japanese Minatsu Mitani 12-21, 21-15, 21-17 in an hour and three minutes to set-up a second-round clash against reigning world champion Nozomi Okuhara of Japan on Thursday. [caption id=“attachment_4065089” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] PV Sindhu, Nozomin Okuhara, Saina Nehwal and Carolina Marin. AFP[/caption] Olympic medallists Sindhu and Okuhara share four wins apiece in career meetings and have recently developed an enthralling rivalry. While Okuhara got the better of Sindhu at the World Championships final in August in Glasgow, the Hyderabadi hit back at the Korea Open in Seoul last weekend. Another intriguing duel on Thursday will be between London Olympic bronze medallist Saina Nehwal and 2016 Olympic champion Carolina Marin of Spain. Saina leads the head-to-head record against the Spaniard by 4-3. Saina on Wednesday moved past Thai Pornpawee Chochuwong 21-17, 21-9 in 40 minutes, while two-time world champion Marin breezed past Chinese Chen Xiaoxin 21-11, 21-11. Eighth-seed Srikanth fought off China’s Tian Houwei 21-15, 12-21, 21-11 in an hour and four minutes. After this win, Srikanth, India’s best bet in the men’s singles category, will take on Chinese Hu Yun. Prannoy got the better of Denmark’s Anders Antonsen 21-12, 21-14 in 37 minutes. The Indian will face Chinese Taipei’s Hsu Jen Hao for a place in the quarter-finals. Sameer Verma also moved into the second round as he registered a 21-12 21-19 victory over Thailand’s Khosit Phetpradab. Sameer will meet Shi Yuqi of Japan on Thursday. B. Sai Praneeth and Sourabh Verma, however, had to face defeats in the opening round. While Sourabh lost to five-time world champion Lin Dan of China 21-11, 15-21, 13-21, Praneeth went down 23-21, 17-21, 14-21 to South Korean Lee Dong Keun. Meanwhile, young Satwik had a mixed day as he lost in the men’s doubles and advanced in the mixed doubles. Satwik-Ashwini pair staved off Thailand’s Tinn Isriyanet and Pacharapun Chochuwong with a 21-17, 21-13 victory. The unseeded Indians will face a huge task of defeating Indonesian fourth seeds Praveen Jordan and Debby Susanto on Thursday. Satwik then partnered Chirag Shetty to lose to Indonesian third seed Marcus Fernaldi Gideon and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo 25-27, 15-21 in 38 minutes. Ashwini too lost in her doubles category. She and N Sikki Reddy ran into South Korean third seeds Chang Ye Na and Lee So Hee and the latter prevailed 21-17, 21-12 in 39 minutes. The senior Indian pair of Manu Attri and B. Sumeeth Reddy also fell in the first round. The Indians lost to Chinese Taipei’s eighth seeds Lee Jhe-Huei and Lee Yang 18-21, 15-21 in 31 minutes. With inputs from IANS
Highlights, Japan Open Superseries, results: Saina Nehwal knocked out by Carolina Marin; Okuhara downs Sindhu
Catch all the live scores and updates from Japan Open Superseries being played in Tokyo on Thursday.
 "Highlights, Japan Open Superseries, results: Saina Nehwal knocked out by Carolina Marin; Okuhara downs Sindhu")
And that’s it from the coverage of the second day at the Japan Open Superseries. It was a mixed day for the Indian shuttlers as PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal were shown the exit door in the second round against Nozomi Okuhara and Carolina Marin respectively. In the men’s singles, Sameer Verma went down fighting against Shi Yuqi of China in three games. However, Kidambi Srikanth and HS Prannoy registered splendid victories to march into the quarter-finals. Sikki Reddy and Pranaav Jerry Chopra too were brilliant after reaching their maiden Superseries quarters.
We will be back tomorrow to provide the live scores and updates. Bye!
Here is tomorrow’s schedule. A host of mouth-watering clashes!
Other results:
Lee Chong Wei beats Tommy Sugiarto 22-20 21-17 to enter the quarter-finals and set up a clash with Chou Tein Chen of Chinese Taipei
20-year-old He Bingjiao eases past Michelle Li of Canada 21-13, 21-12 to seal a place in the quarter-finals of the women’s singles.
Korea Open champions Mathias Boe and Carsten Mogensen defeated Hendra Setiawan and Boon Heong Tan 21-8, 21-13 in just 30 mins.
India's #JapanSS campaign surges ahead as these shuttlers keep the hopes alive. On to the quarters! pic.twitter.com/NfaRRHbr2h
— BAI Media (@BAI_Media) September 21, 2017
Carolina Marin beats Saina Nehwal: 21-16, 21-13
Fifth seed Marin cruises past the former World No 1 after a clinical display in the second round of the women’s singles. A balanced game from the Spaniard allowed her to play a variety of strokes from the net. Saina looked sharp but couldn’t hit clean returns.
Saina needs to kill the rally quickly and look for drop shots if possible to stretch Marin.
11-7! A healthy four-point lead for Marin at the mid-game interval of the 2nd game
— Firstpost Sports (@FirstpostSports) September 21, 2017
Saina needs to attack!https://t.co/GRVm3yRJ0a #JapanSS
Carolina Marin takes opening game: 21-16
The Spaniard claws back from 14-15 to script a superb turnaround and win the first game against Saina Nehwal. Marin took control of her shots to close the gap on Saina’s lead
11-9!
Saina opens a two-point lead over Marin at the mid-game interval of the opening game. She has hit a few crosscourt drop shots to unsettle the Spaniard.
Make that 9-9!
7-7! It's neck-and-neck in the opening game between @NSaina & @CarolinaMarin
— Firstpost Sports (@FirstpostSports) September 21, 2017
Who will claim the 1st game?https://t.co/GRVm3yRJ0a #JapanSS
4-4!
A close contest already. Saina and Marin have started strongly with both players looking sharp at the net.
7th seed Lin Dan beats South Korea’s Lee Dong Keun to enter the quarter-finals. The Chinese legend won the match 21-12, 21-17 in 48 minutes.
Sikki Reddy and Pranaav Chopra reach their maiden Superseries quarter-finals!
Well done, @pranaav6 & @sikkireddy. The mixed doubles pair enter the quarters of #JapanSS after beating Y Kaneko/ K Yonemoto 21-13, 21-17 🙌
— BAI Media (@BAI_Media) September 21, 2017
Key to Okuhara’s win
Okuhara capitalised on Sindhu’s errors at the net and was in complete control of her shots. Sindhu, on the other hand, misjudged the drop on multiple occasions and lost her footing in the second game. The Japanese managed to maintain her lead over Sindhu and in no time, she sealed her place in the quarter-finals.
Nozomi Okuhara beats PV Sindhu: 21-18, 21-8
A comfortable win for the world champion as Sindhu couldn’t match up to Okuhara’s pace in both the games. Notably, Okuhara did not allow Sindhu to play net shots and often was banking on her defence whenever Sindhu tried to attack.
With this win, Okuhara makes it 5-4 in the overall encounters between the two.
16-5!
Okuhara has taken a massive lead and looks set to clinch the second game and enter the quarter-finals. Sindhu is struggling to find her feet at the net.
Okuhara has a healthy 7-point lead at the mid-game interval of the second game. Sindhu struggling to defendhttps://t.co/GRVm3yRJ0a #JapanSS
— Firstpost Sports (@FirstpostSports) September 21, 2017
Nozomi Okuhara takes opening game: 21-18
The unseeded Japanese takes a 1-0 lead against Sindhu with a first-game win in 29 minutes. Okuhara wins five straight points to unsettle Sindhu and snatch the game in no time. Yet again, it was her wall-like defence that made the difference
15-15! Neck-and-neck yet again.
— Firstpost Sports (@FirstpostSports) September 21, 2017
Sindhu wins 3 points on the trot to draw level in the first game
LIVE: https://t.co/GRVm3yRJ0a #JapanSS
Okuhara has changed gears post the break. Leading 14-11 against Sindhu. #JapanSS
— BAI Media (@BAI_Media) September 21, 2017
11-11!
The scores are always level whenever these two play each other! Okuhara is retrieving well from the net.
11-9!
— Firstpost Sports (@FirstpostSports) September 21, 2017
Sindhu has a 2-point advantage at the mid-game interval of the opening game against Okuhara
LIVE: https://t.co/GRVm3yRJ0a #JapanSS
8-8! This was coming…..
Okuhara draws level in no time as we approach the break of the first game.
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