Double Olympic medallist PV Sindhu survived some tense moments earlier than progressing to the ladies’s singles second spherical however it was curtains for Lakshya Sen and Kidambi Srikanth in males’s singles on the Badminton Asia Championships in Ningbo, China on Wednesday. In the meantime, seventh seed HS Prannoy survived a tricky first-round battle in opposition to Lu Guang Zu of China, beating him 21-17, 23-21, 23-21.
Sindhu, who’s desperately looking for to rediscover her type forward of the Paris Olympics, virtually blew away a five-point benefit within the decider earlier than managing a gritty 18-21 21-14 21-19 win in opposition to world quantity 33 Goh Jin Wei from Malaysia.
Sindhu had misplaced to her Malaysian opponent the final time they met within the Sudirman Cup although the Indian has a 4-1 document in opposition to her. Subsequent up for Sindhu is China’s Han Yue, in opposition to whom the Indian has a flawless 5-0 document.
LAKSHYA SEN OUSTED
It was, nonetheless, a troublesome day for Olympic-bound Sen, who misplaced 19-21 15-21 to native favorite and prime seed Shi Yu Qi, and Srikanth, who suffered a 14-21 13-21 loss in opposition to Indonesia’s Anthony Ginting within the opening spherical.
Proficient Priyanshu Rajawat additionally crashed out within the males’s singles opening spherical. Rajawat was no match for eight-seeded Lee Zii Jia of Malaysia, dropping 9-21 13-21 in 39 minutes.
It was additionally curtains for the Panda sisters — Rutuparna and Swetaparna — within the opening spherical of girls’s doubles, dropping 8-21 13-21 in opposition to seventh seeds Zhang Shu Xian and Zheng Yu W of China.
MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila too was left heartbroken after dropping 21-23 21-19 24-26 in opposition to seventh seeded Chinese language pair of Liu Yu Chen and Ou Xuan Yi.
Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand too went down 2-21 11-21 to fourth-seeded Liu Sheng Shu and Tan Ning within the girls’s doubles opener to sprint their faint Paris Olympics qualification hopes.
Malvika Bansod and Aakarshi Kashyap too faltered within the opening hurdle, dropping to Korea’s Sim Yu Jin and Thailand’s Busanan Ongbamrungphan respectively.
PRANNOY SHINES
It was the fourth battle between Prannoy and Lu with the Chinese language prevailing in all three conferences to this point.
Prannoy, 31, who shall be chasing Olympic glory in Paris, has been troubled by intestine points this season. He made first-round exits in all BWF occasions aside from India Open the place he reached the semifinals.
Issues weren’t trying up right here both when he conceded the opening sport after which gave up a 6-1 benefit within the second sport. However a decided Prannoy discovered a solution to wrest again management, taking a four-game level benefit after breaking off at 16-16.
The Indian, nonetheless, squandered all of it as Lu held a match level at 21-20 however simply in time Prannoy bought again his bearing and reeled off the required three factors to roar again into the competition.
The decider was one other rollercoaster journey as Prannoy once more fell 3-10 behind however he as soon as once more clawed again to take a 13-12 lead. With the clock racing over the 70-minute mark, it grew to become a battle of thoughts and battered our bodies.
Lu managed to once more seize match factors at 20-19 and 21-20 however Prannoy once more unleashed two highly effective smashes after which punched the air when the Chinese language dumped one on the internet.
