World Tour Finals: Sindhu, Srikanth make winning start

Young Lakshya Sen also won his first match of Group A after World No.2 Kento Momota of Japan retired injured when the scoreline was 1-1 in the first game. Two-time Olympic medallist Sindhu saw off Denmark’s Line Christophersen 21-14, 21-16 in a lop-sided Group A contest after Srikanth defeated Frenchman Toma Junior Popov 21-14, 21-16 in his opening Group B match.

Sindhu, the only Indian to win the year-ending tournament in 2018, will next meet Germany’s Yvonne Li. Srikanth, who had reached the knockout stage of the 2014 edition, will face Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand in his upcoming match.

While India had a good day in the singles competitions, the women’s doubles combination of Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy lost 14-21, 18-21 to the second-seeded Japanese duo of Nami Matsuyama and Chiharu Shida in their opening Group B fixture. Also starting with a loss was the men’s doubles pairing of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, which was beaten 16-21, 5-21 by the Danish combination of Kim Astrup and Anders Rasmussen in a Group A clash.

Saina to miss World C’ships

Saina Nehwal will miss the World Championships for the first time in her international career due to multiple injuries that have derailed her season. Saina, who has won a silver and bronze medal besides eight quarter-final finishes at the World Championships, is recovering from a groin pull and knee injury. The big-ticket event will be held in Huelva, Spain, from December 12 to 19.