- SINGAPORE — Two-time
Olympic medallist PV Sindhu and HS Prannoy provided rare positives for India on
an otherwise disappointing opening day at the Singapore Open Super 750
badminton tournament on Tuesday. Sindhu emerged as the lone bright spark among
the women while Prannoy kept India’s hopes alive in the men’s singles by
outclassing Denmark’s Rasmus Gemke to advance to the second round.
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- Sindhu cruised into the second round with a commanding
straight-game win over Canada’s Wen Yu Zhang. The 29-year-old made short work
of Zhang with a dominant 21-14, 21-9 win in just 31 minutes. The Indian ace was
in control throughout, mixing aggression with precision as she outplayed her
Canadian opponent in both rallies and net exchanges.
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- The win, however, sets up a tough second-round clash for
Sindhu, as she is scheduled to face Tokyo Olympics gold medallist and current
world No. 5 Chen Yu Fei of China - a rival she has had a chequered history.
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- In men's singles, Prannoy got the better of his Danish
opponent in an hour and 12-minute clash. After going down in the opening game
19-21, the Indian shuttler made a strong comeback to keep himself alive in the tournament
after clinching the remaining two games 21-16 and 21-14.
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- Prannoy will next take on France's Christo Popov in the
second round on Wednesday.
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- Barring Sindhu and Prannoy, the rest of the Indian
contingent suffered early exits. Malvika Bansod and Priyanshu Rajawat both
began promisingly, winning their first games, but could not sustain the
momentum. Malvika went down 21-14, 18-21, 11-21 against Thailand’s eighth seed
Supanida Katethong in a 58-minute battle.
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- Priyanshu also succumbed to a similar fate, losing 21-14,
10-21, 14-21 to Japan’s seventh-seeded Kodai Naraoka in a match that stretched
beyond the hour mark.
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