Sindhu in main draw at Syed Modi tourney

Lucknow, Dec. 15: Hyderabad’s P.V. Sindhu defeated Rucha Nikam 21-6, 21-9 to reach the main draw of the women’s singles in the Jaypee Syed Modi International Grand Prix Badminton Tournament which got underway at the Babu Banarsi Das UP Badminton Academy here on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, World No. 7 Saina Nehwal and Chetan Anand have got the top billing in the event.

Saina will start her campaign on Wednesday when she will take on qualifier Juhi Dewangan.

While in the men’s singles, Chetan Anand enjoys a first-round bye and plays the winner of the match between Rajiv Bajaj and Srujan Nandaluri.

Second seed Arvind Bhatt has also been given a bye in the first round.

However, the top seed mixed doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and V. Diju will be out of action as they withdrew from the event citing Jwala’s foot infection.