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P V Sindhu made a confident start at the All England Open, beating Beiwin Zhang of the United States in straight games, but Kidambi Srikanth bowed out of the tournament, losing in the first round, in Birmingham, on Wednesday.
The sixth seed and world No. 6 Sindhu needed 42 minutes to get the better of the American, ranked eight places below her, 21-14, 21-17.
After calling the shots in the first game, Sindhu faced some resistance in the second. The scores ran neck and neck before the two players were locked 16-16. Sindhu, however, won five straight points to win comfortably.
It was the 10th meeting between the two players and Sindhu improved the head-to-head record to 6-4.
The last time they met was at the Korea Open where the American won in three games.
Sindhu will now clash with Korea’s Sung Ji Hyun for a place in the quarter-finals.
Srikanth lost to No. 3 Chen Long 15-21, 16-21 in 43 minutes
The mixed doubles pair of Pranaav Jerry Chopra and N Sikki Reddy lost 13-21, 21-11, 17-21 to the top-seeded Chinese pair of Si Wei Zheng and Ya Qiong Huang.
Saina Nehwal, P Kashyap, Lakshya Sen and B Sai Praneeth are scheduled to play later on Wednesday.