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.
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.
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.
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.
Prannoy will next take on France's Christo Popov in the second round on Wednesday.
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.
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.
Youngster Anmol Kharb showed grit against China’s formidable Chen Yu Fei but eventually lost 11-21, 22-24, narrowly missing out on forcing a decider in the second game.
Kiran George, who had impressed earlier this year with a quarterfinal appearance at the India Open, failed to carry forward that momentum. He was edged out by China’s Weng Hong Yang in straight games, 19-21, 17-21.
R. Santhosh Ramraj couldn’t pose much of a challenge, losing 14-21, 8-21 to South Korea’s Kim Ga Eun.
The doubles events didn’t bring any relief either. In mixed doubles, the Indian pair of Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto lost 18-21, 13-21 to the Chinese duo of Cheng Xing and Zhang Chi. Another Indian mixed pair, Ashith Surya and Amrutha Parmuthesh, were also shown the door after an 11-21, 17-21 defeat to Japan’s Yuichi Shimogami and Sayaka Hobara.