Paris [France] : Indian mix doubles pair of Ashwini Ponnappa and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy on Thursday lost in the round of 16 match in the ongoing French Open. Playing at Court 4, the Indian pair lost against Indonesia’s Praveen Jordan and Melati Daeva Oktavianti 21-15, 17-21, 19-21. The pair Ponnappa and Satwik dominated the game in the first round but the Indonesian duo came back stronger in the second and the third round. Earlier, India’s ace shuttler PV Sindhu defeated Denmark’s Julie Jakobsen 21-15, 21-18 in straight sets to advance into the second round of the women’s singles event at the French Open 2021. Elsewhere, London Olympics bronze medallist Saina Nehwal was forced to retire from her opening round match with an injury. Saina Nehwal was trailing 21-11, 9-2 against Japan’s Sayaka Takahashi in her women’s singles clash when she decided to concede. Earlier, Lakshya Sen stormed into the men’s singles round of 16. The 20-year-old defeated Ireland’s Nhat Nguyen 21-10, 21-16 in 45 minutes. Sourabh Verma also went into the men’s singles round of 32. He defeated Brazil’s Ygor Coelho 22-20, 21-19.
