Barcelona Masters: Saina Nehwal advances to second round but HS Prannoy loses

Pranaav Jerry Chopra and Sikki N Reddy also won their mixed doubles first round match against Denmark’s Mathias Christiansen and Alexandra Boje 10-21 21-16 21-17.

India’s Olympic bronze medallist shuttler Saina Nehwal advanced to the women’s singles second round of the USD 170,000 Barcelona Spain Masters with a 21-16 21-14 win over Germany’s Yvonne Li on Wednesday.

A file photo of Saina Nehwal. (AP)

Sania took just 35 minutes to beat her opponent in the first round match.

Pranaav Jerry Chopra and Sikki N Reddy also won their mixed doubles first round match against Denmark’s Mathias Christiansen and Alexandra Boje 10-21 21-16 21-17.

However, H S Prannoy lost to Malaysian Daren Liew 18-21 15-21 to bow out of the tournament.

Saina is looking to keep her Tokyo Olympic hopes alive after an inconsistent outing in 2019 and she also didn’t enjoy a good start this year. She has crossed the first round in only one of the three events in 2020.