P V Sindhu, K Srikanth, Sameer Verma reach second round in Taipei Grand Prix

TAIPEI: Top Indian shuttlers P V Sindhu and K Srikanth, and fast-rising Sameer Verma reached the second round of the $200,000 Chinese Taipei Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament here today.

In women's singles, world no. 14 Sindhu defeated Indonesia's Lindaweni Fanetri 21-19 21-19 to set up a clash with third seed Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei.

World No.3 Srikanth defeated Chinese Taipei's Tzu Wei Wang 21-17 21-15 in a 34-minute battle in men's singles competition. The third seeded Indian will next take on Indonesian Ihsan Maulana Mustofa.

Sameer also crossed the first hurdle with a hard-fought 20-22 21-13 21-13 win over Chinese Taipei's Kuo Po Cheng. He will meet world no. 1 Chen Long of China next.

However, it was the end of the road for Commonwealth Games bronze medallist RMV Gurusaidutt as he lost 21-23 17-21 to Shesar Hiren Rhustavito of Indonesia.