PV Sindhu and HS Prannoy were the only bright spots for India on the second day of the Badminton Asia Championships as all their compatriots lost in the first round in Ningbo, China on Wednesday.
Against Malaysia’s Goh Jin Wei in the women’s singles first round, Sindhu lost the first game 18-21. But the double Olympic medallist regained her composure to win the next two games 21-14, 21-19 in a 64-minute contest, earning her fifth win in six meetings against the world No.33.
The 2019 world champion will face Han Yue next. Sindhu holds a 5-0 record against the Chinese sixth seed.
Aakarshi Kashyap and qualifier Malvika Bansod lost in Round 1. The former lost 10-21, 11-21 to Thai Busanan Ongbamrungphan while Malvika lost 18-21, 19-21 to South Korea’s Sim Yu Jin.
Seventh seeded Prannoy won a marathon battle against China’s Lu Guang Zhu lasting 90 minutes. He saved three match points before winning 17-21, 23-21, 23-21. This is Prannoy’s first win over Lu in four meetings. He faces Chinese Taipei’s Lin Chun-Yi next.
However, it was end of the road for Lakshya Sen, Kidambi Srikanth and Priyanshu Rajawat. Lakshya lost 19-21, 15-21 to Chinese top seed Shi Yuqi, Srikanth lost 14-21, 13-21 to Indonesian second seed Anthony Sinisuka Ginting and Priyanshu lost 9-21, 13-21 to Malaysian eighth seed Lee Zii Jia.
In men’s doubles, Krishna Prasad Garaga and K Sai Pratheek lost 14-21, 17-21 to Chinese third seeds Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang while qualifiers Hariharan Amsakarunan and Ruban Kumar Rethinasabapathi were defeated 15-21, 14-21 by Malaysian fourth seeds Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik.
Thomas Cup champions MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila gave fought valiantly against Chinese seventh seeds Liu Yu Chen and Ou Xuan Yi but wasted four match points and were eventually defeated 21-23, 21-19, 24-26 in 75 minutes.
Panda sisters, Rutaparna and Swetaparna also lost, beaten 21-8, 21-13 by Chinese seventh seeds Zhang Shu Xian and Zheng Yu. Treesa Jolly and P Gayatri Gopichand were hammered 21-2, 21-11 by Chinese fourth seeds Liu Sheng Shu and Tan Ning. Qualifiers Simran Singhi and Ritika Thaker also lost, 5-21, 7-21 to South Korean second seeds Baek Ha Na and Lee So Hee.
In mixed doubles, qualifiers Sathish Kumar Karunakaran and Aadya Variyath lost 12-21, 13-21 to Hong Kong’s Lee Chun Hei Reginald and Ng Tsz Yau.
