Australian Open 2023 badminton: PV Sindhu, HS Prannoy march into second round
Mithum Manjunath beat a former world champion while Kidambi Srikanth also advanced. Lakshya Sen retired from his match against Kiran George due to injury.
Badminton
Indian badminton ace PV Sindhu advanced into the second round of the Australian Open 2023 women’s singles event with a win over compatriot Ashmita Chaliha at the State Sports Centre in Sydney, on Wednesday.
In the men’s singles, India’s Thomas Cup heroes HS Prannoy and Kidambi Srikanth beat top-20 opponents for a place in the next round of the BWF Super 500 event.
Commonwealth Games champion Lakshya Sen, however, pulled out midway during his contest against fellow Indian Kiran George due to injury concerns. The Indian badminton player was trailing 0-5 in the opening game when he retired.
World No. 17 PV Sindhu, who has been struggling for form this year, defeated world No. 47 Ashmita Chaliha 21-18, 21-13 to make the round of 16.
Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu will face compatriot Aakarshi Kashyap, 40th in badminton rankings, on Thursday. Aakarshi Kashyap made it to the second round with a 21-15, 21-17 win over Malaysia’s world No. 34 Goh Jin Wei in the first round.
HS Prannoy, India’s highest-ranked singles shuttler at world No. 9, fended off a challenge from world No. 15 Lee Cheuk Yiu from Hong Kong to win 21-18, 16-21, 21-15. The Indian badminton player will take on world No. 42 Chi Yu Jen of Chinese Taipei next.
The world No. 19 Kidambi Srikanth beat world No. 14 Japanese shuttler Kenta Nishimoto of Japan 21-18, 21-7 in his opener. The Indian shuttler will play Su Li Yang of Chinese Taipei, ranked 37th, in the second round on Thursday.
Mithun Manjunath, 50th in badminton rankings, produced a stunning upset with a 21-19, 21-19 win over world No. 7 and former world champion Loh Kean Yew. Manjunath awaits the winner from the contest between Malaysians Lee Zii Jia and Leong Jun Hao.
Orleans Masters champion Priyanshu Rajawat, ranked 31, advanced to the second round after defeating world No. 113 Nathan Tang of Australia 21-12, 21-16 in 33 minutes and set up a clash against world No, 28 Wang Tzu Wei of Chinese Taipei in the next round.
Malvika Bansod and Tasnim Mir bowed out of the BWF Super 500 tournament after failing to win their opening matches.
Malvika Bansod, world 43, was handed a 20-22, 11-21 defeat from Pai Yu Po of Chinese Taipei. Pai Yu Po is ranked 20 places above Malvika Bansod.
World No. 53 Tasnim Mir, meanwhile, suffered a 21-13, 21-7 loss against world No. 56 Komang Ayu Cahya Dewi of Indonesia.
India’s challenge in the mixed doubles ended after BS Reddy-Ashwini Ponnappa and Rohan Kapoor-N Sikki Reddy lost their respective opening round matches.
BS Reddy-Ashwini Ponnappa lost to the Japanese pair of Hiroki Midorikawa-Natsu Saito 13-21, 12-21 while Rohan Kapoor-N Sikki Reddy were beaten by Republic of Korea’s Seo Seungjae-Chae Yujung 14-21, 18-21.
Results at the Australian Open will count towards players’ qualifying rankings for the Paris Games. The qualification window for badminton in the Paris 2024 Olympics started on May 1.
The Australian Open 2023 will conclude on Sunday.