Ningbo (China): Two-time Olympic Games medallist PV Sindhu made a winning start in the Badminton Asia Championships 2025 with a 2-0 win over Ester Nurumi Tri Wardoyo of Indonesia in a first-round clash here on Wednesday.
Sindhu, who had lost to Julie Dawall Jakobsen of Denmark in the first round of the Swiss Open in her last outing, won the match 21-15, 21-19 in a 44-minute encounter.
Ranked 17th in the BWF World Rankings, Sindhu took a 4-1 lead in the first game but the Indonesian player fought back to narrow it to 6-5. Sindhu won three points in a row but then Ester levelled scores at 9-9. From thereon, the 27-year-old Sindhu took control of the game and went on to win the game 21-15.
The second game was closer and the two players went neck-and-neck, swapping leads a couple of times before Sindhu opened a 15-12 lead. The Indonesian, ranked 36th in the World, fought back to narrow the gap to 17-18 and then caught up with the Indian star at 19-19. Sindhu, who won a silver medal in the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and followed that up with a bronze in Tokyo, won the next three points to seal victory.
Sindhu will next play third seed Akane Yamaguchi of Japan in the next round. Sindhu holds a 14-11 advantage in the head-to-head series over the Japanese shuttler.
Top stars Lakshya and H.S. Prannoy crashed out while Kiran George won his men’s singles match as India continued to experience mixed fortunes on Day 2 of competitions here on Wednesday. Priyanshu Rajawa too advanced to the Round of 16 beating Kantaphon Wangcharoen of Thailand 20-22, 21-12, 21-10.
Lakshya was the biggest Indian star in action in singles play on Wednesday. He lost a close first game in an 18-21, 10-21 defeat to Lee Chai-Hao of Chinese Taipei in a first-round match in 35 minutes.
The first game was quite close and Lakshya made a good start, taking an 8-3 lead. Lee, however, fought back to level scores at 8-8 and then surged ahead 10-8. Lakshya eventually caught up with his rival at 16-16. However, the Chinese Taipei player could not be denied as he six points in a row to seal the first game. He opened a 6-2 lead in the second game before extending it to 15-5, eventually going on to win the game, winning eight consecutive points.
Prannoy lost to Lu Guang Zu of China 16-21, 21-12, 11-21 in one hour and 30 minutes in a Round of 32 clash.
Kiran George kept the Indian hopes in men’s singles as he defeated Dmitry Panarin of Kazakhstan in straight games, winning 21-16, 21-8 in a Round of 32 clash. He will next face third seed Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand in the next round. The Thai player defeated Tze Yong Ng of Malaysia 21-0, 21-12 in the first round.
In women’s singles, Aakarshi Kashyap, Malavika Bansod and Anupama Upadhyaya made their exits from the women’s singles section leaving PV Sindhu as the only Indian female player remaining in the draw.
Akarshi lost 21-13,21-7 to second seed Yue Han of China while Malavika Bansod went down to Gao Fang Jie of China 14-21, 8-21. Anupama Upadhyaya also exited the tournament with a 13-21 14-21 defeat to former World Champion and eighth seed Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand.
In men’s doubles, India’s Pruthvi Krishnamurthy Roy and Sai Pratheek K of India lost to Hsiang Chiah Chiu of Chinese Taiepi 19-21, 12-41 while Hariharan and Ruban Kumar defeated SriLanak’s Madhuka Dulanjana and Lahiru Weebasinghe.
In mixed doubles, Ashith Surya and Amrutha Pramuthesh of India defeated Thulith Palliyaguru and Panchali Adhikari 9-21,11-13. Rohan Kapoor and Ruthvika Shivani Gadde 21-18, 17-21, 17-21.
(IANS)
