Defending champion Ratchanok off to a winning start in Yonex Sunrise India Open
Some of the big names have stayed away from the Yonex Sunrise India Open Superseries including the top two seeds in the men's singles - Malaysia's Lee Chong Wei and Denmark's Jan O Jorgensen but 2015 champion K. Srikanth gave the home fans plenty to cheer in the first round matches.
Srikanth, the 2015 champion made a bright start to his campaign at the Sri Fort Sports Complex in New Delhi when he moved into the second with 21-19, 21-16 win over China's newcomer Zhao Junpeng.
The Indian hope will face Rio Olympics silver medallist and last year's runners-up Viktor Axelsen of Denmark for a place in the quarter-finals. The lanky Dane who lost to Japan's Kento Momota in the final last year edged another Indian Ajay Jayaram 23-21. 21-17 in a 38 minute battle.
India's national champion Samer Varma also advanced to the second round when he upset fourth seed Son Wan-ho of Korea 21-17, 21-10 in 46 minutes to earn a second round clash against Hong Kong's Hu Yun who smashed Frenchman Brice Leverdez 21-18, 21-13.
The homesters also made a strong start in the women's singles through their Olympians. Rio Olympics silver medallist P.V. Sindhu roared to a 21-17, 21-6 over compatriot Arundhati Pantawane while London Olympics bronze medallist Saina Nehwal swept to a 21-10, 21-17 win over Taiwan's Lee Chia-hsin.
Sixth seeded Nehwal, who is making a strong comeback after undergoing knee surgery she sustained in Rio will face Thailand's Pornpawee Chochuwong who she beat in the Malaysia Masters final in Sibu for a first title this year.
Sindhu and Nehwal could cross paths in the quarter-finals. Third seed Sindhu will face Japan's Saena Kawakami in the second round. The Japanese beat India's Rasika Raje 21-10, 21-11 in the first round.
Defending champion Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand made short work of China's Gao Fangjie with a 21-15, 21-19 in 36 minutes. Ratchanok, after winning the Indian Open went on to win the Malaysia Open and the Singapore Open in successive weeks which saw her shoot to the top of the world rankings last year.
World No 2 Malaysia's Goh V Shem-Tan Wee Kiong, the top seeds in the men's doubles made a winning start to their campaign with a 21-17, 21-19 win over Thailand's Kittinupong Kedren-Dechapol Puavaranukroh.
They face the scratch Malaysia-Indonesia combination of Tan Boon Heong-Hendra Setiawan who brushed aside India's Ketan Chahal-Tanveer Gill 21-15, 21-15.
Newly crowned All-England champion Marcus Fernaldi Gideon-Kebin Sanjaya Sukamuljo which saw them dethrone V Shem-Wee Kiong from the world No 1 ranking beat Taiwan's Chen Hung-ling-Wang Chi-lin 21-17, 21-17.
Second seeds Takeshi Kamura-Keigo Sonoda of Japan were too strong for Indonesia's Berry Angriawan-Hardianto Hardianto in the 21-3, 21-17 win.
SELECTED RESULTS (FIRST ROUND)
Men
Singles
Lee Dong Keun (Kor) beat Kenta Tsuneyama (Jpn) 27-25, 21-10
Hu Yun (Hkg) beat Brice Leverdez (Fra) 21-18, 21-13
Marc Zwiebler (Ger) beat Hsu Jen Hao (Tpe) 21-14, 21-17
Chou Tien Chen (Tpe) beat Tanongsak Saensomboonsul (Tha) 21-18, 21-8
Sameer Varma (Ind) beat Son Wan-ho (Kor) 21-17, 21-10
B. Sai Praneeth (Ind) beat Kenta Nishimoto (Jpn) 16-21, 21-12, 21-19
Hans-Kristian Vittinhus (Den) beat Emil Holst (Den) 21-15, 21-18
Anders Antonsen (Den) beat Kazumasa Sakai (Jpn) 21-10, 21-16
K. Srikanth (Ind) beat Zhao Junpeng (Chn) 21-19, 21-16
Tian Houwei (Chn) beat beat Wei Nan (Hkg) 21-12, 21-19
Viktor Axelsen (Den) beat Ajay Jayaram (Ind) 23-21, 21-17
Tommy Sugiarto (Ina) beat Misha Zilberman (Idr) 21-17, 21-15
Doubles
Goh V Shem-Tan Wee Kiong (Mas) beat Kittinupong Kedren-Dechapol Puavaranukroh 21-17, 21-19
Takeshi Kamura-Keogo Sonoda (Jpn) beat Berry Angriawan-Hardianto Hardianto (Ina) 21-13, 21-17
Marcus Fernaldi Gideon-Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo (Ina) beat Chen Hung-ling-Wang Chi-lin (Tpe) 21-17, 21-17
Women
Singles
Carolina Marin (Spn) beat Kim Hyo-min (Kor) 21-17, 21-10
Akane Yamaguchi (Jpn) beat P.C. Thulasi (Nd) 21-15, 21-16
P.V. Sindhu (Ind) beat Arunadhati Pantawane (Ind) 21-17, 21-6
Saena Kawakami (Jpn) beat Rasika Raje (Ind0 21-10, 21-11
Ratchanok Intanon (Tha) beat Gao Fangjie (Chn) 21-15, 21-19
Saina Nehwal (Nd) beat Lee Chia Hsin (Tpe) 21-10, 21-17
Sayaka Sato (Jpn) beat Anura Prabhudesai (Ind) 21-17, 21-16
Nozomi Okuhara (Jpn) beat Tanvi Lad (Ind) 6-2 (rtd)
Lyanny Alessandra Mainaky (Ina) beat Sai Uttejitha Rao Chukka (Ind) 21-17, 21-18
Minatsu Mitani (Jpn) beat Line Kjaersfeldt (Den) 21-16, 21-8
Pornpawee Chochuwong (Tha) beat Hsu Ya-ching (Tpe) 21-16, 21-13
Sung Ji-hyun (Kor) beat Sri Krishna Priya Kudaravalli (Ind) 21-11, 21-13
Mixed Doubles
Zheng Siwei-Chen Qingchen (Chn) beat Ben Lane-Jessica Pugh (Eng) 21-12, 21-19
Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying (Mas) beat Venkat Gaurav Prasad-Juhi Dewangan (Ind) 21-12, 21-12
Kenta Kazuno-Ayane Kurihara (Jpn) beat Supah Jomkoh-Puttita Supajirakul (Tha)21-13, 21-14
Edi Subaktiar-Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja (Ina) beat K. Yogendran-Prajakta Sawant (Mas-Ind) 21-16, 16-21, 21-16
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