PV Sindhu, K Srikanth make impressive starts at Thailand Open

P V 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 here 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.

In men’s singles, former world no 1 Srikanth, who had withdrawn ahead of the second round last week due to a calf muscle pull, seemed to have recovered completely as he decimated another Thai player Sitthikom Thammasin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…