NEW DELHI: Star shuttlers PV Sindhu and HS Prannoy advanced to the second round, but Lakshya Sen narrowly lost to world No. 1 Viktor Axelsen at the Singapore Open Super 750 Badminton Tournament on Wednesday.
Sindhu, who last won a BWF title in Singapore two years ago, entered the tournament after finishing as runner-up at the Thailand Open last week.
In her opening round, Sindhu defeated world No. 21 Line Hojmark Kjaersfeldt of Denmark 21-12, 22-20 in a 44-minute match, setting up a highly anticipated clash against Rio Olympic champion Carolina Marin of Spain. Marin, ranked world No. 3, has an 11-5 record against Sindhu. Their last encounter at the Denmark Open was notably heated, with both players receiving yellow cards for verbal exchanges.
World No. 10 Prannoy overcame a tough challenge from Julien Carraggi of Belgium, ranked 45, winning 21-9, 18-21, 21-9. Prannoy will next face Japan's Kenta Nishimoto.
The Commonwealth Games bronze medallist duo of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand started strong in the women's doubles, defeating Cheng Yu-Pei and Sun Yu Hsing of Chinese Taipei 21-7, 21-14.
Lakshya Sen, world No. 14, fought valiantly but ultimately lost to Viktor Axelsen 13-21, 21-16, 13-21 in a 62-minute match. Axelsen recently claimed his first title of the season at the Thailand Open.
Kidambi Srikanth's opening round ended in disappointment as he retired due to a knee injury while trailing 14-21, 3-11 against Japan's fifth seed Kodai Naraoka.
In other matches, the Olympic-bound women's pair Tanisha Crasto and Ashwini Ponnappa lost 21-18, 19-21, 19-21 to Ukraine's Polina Buhrova and Yevheniia Kantemyr.
The men's pair Krishna Prasad Garage and Sai Pratheek K were defeated 16-21, 22-24 by the second-seeded Chinese duo Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang.
Additionally, B Sumeeth Reddy and N Sikki Reddy were beaten 18-21, 19-21 by Malaysia's Goh Soon Huat and Lai Shevon Jemie in mixed doubles. Venkat Gaurav Prasad and Juhi Dewangan also suffered a loss, going down 8-21, 8-21 against Denmark's Mads Vestergaard and Christine Busch.
(With PTI inputs)The TOI Sports Desk excels in a myriad of roles that capture the ...
Read MoreThe TOI Sports Desk excels in a myriad of roles that capture the essence of live sporting events and deliver compelling content to readers worldwide.
From running live blogs for India and non-India cricket matches to global spectacles featuring Indian talents, like the Chess World Cup final featuring Praggnanandhaa and the Badminton World Championships semifinal featuring HS Prannoy, our live coverage extends to all mega sporting events. We extensively cover events like the Olympics, Asian Games, Cricket World Cups, FIFA World Cups, and more.
The desk is also adept at writing comprehensive match reports and insightful post-match commentary, complemented by stats-based articles that provide an in-depth analysis of player performances and team dynamics.
We track news wires for key stories, conduct exclusive player interviews in both text and video formats, and file content from print editions and reporters. We keep track of all viral stories, trending topics and produce our own copies on the subjects.
We deliver accurate, engaging, and up-to-the-minute sports content, round the clock.
Read Less
Start a Conversation
Post comment