New Delhi: Young shuttler P V Sindhu lost a gallant fight in her opening round but London Olympics quarterfinalist Parupalli Kashyap kept India`s tricolour fluttering with a straight-game win to reach the second round of the China Open in Shanghai on Wednesday.
Commonwealth bronze medallist Kashyap, who had taken a month-long break after winning the Senior Nationals Championship in Srinagar, was the only bright spot for India in men`s singles as all other Indians bowed out of the tournament after losing their opening contest.
World number 23 Kashyap notched up a 21-15, 21-15 victory over Sweden`s Henri Hurskainen in a 37-minute contest.
Indian men`s doubles pair of Tarun Kona and Arun Vishnu also notched up an easy 21-2, 21-4 win over Mongolia`s Erdenebayar Enkhbold and Zolzaya Munkhbaatar to reach the second round in an otherwise dismal day.
In women`s singles, returning to action after over a month due to a knee problem, Sindhu fought fiercely against world number 14 Eriko Hirose before going down 20-22, 21-14, 19-21 to the Japanese in an hour and six minutes match.
Among other Indians, Ajay Jayaram suffered a 18-21, 21-16, 14-21 loss to Malaysia`s Daren Liew, while RMV Gurusaidutt also went down fighting to Takuma Ueda 21-11, 13-21, 11-21 in men`s singles contests.
Indonesian pair of Alvent Yulianto Chandra and Markis Kido put paid to the hopes of India`s men`s doubles combo of Manu Attri and Sumeeth Reddy B 21-17, 13-21, 21-11 in a 34-minute competition, while mixed doubles combo of Akshay Dewalkar and Pradnya Gadre also became a first round casualty after losing to top seeds Chen Xu and Jin Ma of China 5-21, 17-21.
Similarly, Arun Vishnu and Aparna Balan also could not cross the first hurdle and lost to Denmark`s Mads Pieler Kolding and Kamilla Rytter Juhl 9-21, 19-21 in another mixed doubles match.
Another men`s doubles combo of Pranaav Chopra and Akshay Dewalkar also bowed out after their gallant fight ended in a 25-27, 17-21 loss to Chinese pair of Xiaolong Liu and Zihan Qiu in a 52-minute match.
PTI
First Published: Wednesday, November 14, 2012, 21:49