Star shuttler PV Sindhu overcame a spirited show from promising shuttler Anmol Kharb to register a 21-17, 21-15 win in her women’s singles first-round match at the Syed Modi India International in Lucknow on Wednesday.
Sindhu, the two-time Olympic medallist, trailed 8-13 in the first game against Anmol. However, the top-seeded Sindhu fought back to collect the next 13 of the 17 points to win the first game.
In the second game, Sindhu kept calm and progressed to the second round to set up a second-round clash against fellow Indian Ira Sharma.
Lakshya Sen in men’s singles, Malvika Bansod and Unnati Hooda in women’s singles, and Tanisha Crasto and Ashwini Ponnapa in women’s doubles also sealed their spots in the Round of 16.
Lakshya, the top seed, humbled Malaysia’s unseeded Sholeh Aidil 21-12, 21-12. He will face Daniil Dubovenko of Israel in the pre-quarterfinals.
Kiran George, Priyanshu Rajawat and Mithun Manjunath also progressed in men's singles. While Manjunath beat Justin Hoh of Malaysia 18-21, 21-17, 17-21, Kiran got better of Alap Mishra 21-12, 23-21. Priyanshu, on the other hand, beat compatriot Kartikey Gulshan Kumar 21-13, 21-12.
Malvika Bansod, who has recently made rapid improvements in her game, registered a convincing 21-16, 21-7 win over Poland’s Wiktoria Dabczynska to secure a spot in the Round of 16.
Unnati Hooda, a promising 17-year-old shuttler who became the youngest Indian badminton player to win a title on the BWF World Tour in 2022, won her first-round match 21-12, 21-16 against Thamonwan Nithittikrai of Thailand.
India’s top-seeded women’s doubles pairing of Tanisha Crasto and Ashwini Ponnappa opened their campaign with a 21-12, 21-10 win over unseeded pair of Ishu Malik-Tanu Malik.
Earlier in the day, second-seeded Gayatri Gopichand-Treesa Jolly also progressed after receiving a walkover later in the day.
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