PV Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth notched up straight-game wins, while Sameer Verma shocked world no. 10 Lee Zii Jia as Indian shuttlers made impressive starts at the Toyota Thailand Open Super 1000 tournament in Bangkok on Tuesday.
A week after being sent packing by Denmark’s Mia Blichfeldt in the first event of the Asia leg, world champion Sindhu showed great discipline and focus to see off world no. 12 Busanan 21-17 21-13 in the women’s singles opener.
Watch: PV Sindhu starts off Thailand Open campaign with an impressive win
In men’s singles, former world no. 1 Srikanth, who had withdrawn ahead of the second round last week due to a calf muscle pull, seemed to have recovered completely as he decimated another Thai player Sitthikom Thammasin 21-11 21-11 in 37 minutes.
But the highlight of the day was the lion-hearted performance by world no. 31 Sameer, who stunned eighth seed Lee 18-21 27-25 21-19 in a thrilling opening match.