Madrid Spain Masters: Sindhu makes winning start

Double Olympic medallist P V Sindhu progressed to the second round of the Madrid Spain Masters with a straight-game win over Canada's Wen Yu Zhang in Madrid on Wednesday.

Sindhu, who finished as runner-up in the last edition, saw off World No. 49 Zhang 21-16, 21-12 in a lop-sided contest.

Sindhu, a former world champion, will meet Chinese Taipei's Huang Yu-Hsun next.

In the mixed doubles, husband-wife duo of B Sumeeth Reddy and N Sikki Reddy beat Chinese Taipei's Chen Zhi Ray and Yang Ching Tun 16-21, 22-20, 21-14 in a thrilling opener.

It was, however, curtains for Ashmita Chaliha, who went down 13-21, 11-21 against former world champion Ratchanok Inthanon of Thailand in her opening match.

Mithun Manjunath, who qualified for the main draw, also couldn't get past Chinese Taipei's Wang Tzu Wei, going down 11-21, 12-21 in a one-sided contest.

Earlier, the half an hour clash between Sindhu and Zhang had some exciting moments as the two players fought hard for supremacy. Sindhu conceded a 4-2 lead to Zhang, who managed a one-point advantage at the break.

However, after resumption, the Indian pulled away from 14-14 to seal the opening game.

The second game was an easy affair as Sindhu jumped to 11-6 after 4-4 at one stage. The Indian kept moving ahead as Zhang's game crumbled under pressure.