PV Sindhu, Prannoy secure wins in Badminton Asia Championships

DUBAI: Ace Indian shuttler and Olympic medalist P V Sindhu advanced to the pre-quarters stage after winning her round of 32 match at the ongoing Badminton Asia Championship 2023 in Dubai on Wednesday. She beat Hsu Wen-chi of Taiwan by 21-15, 22-20.

“Win for Sindhu as she enters R16: @badmintonphoto #BAC2023 #IndiaontheRise #Badminton,” tweeted the Badminton Association of India (BAI) Media.

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Kidambi Srikanth, the ace Indian men’s shuttler, also advanced to the round of 16. He defeated Bahrain’s Adnan Ebrahum by 21-13, 21-8. “Cakewalk for @srikidambi, enters pre-quarters: @badmintonphoto #BAC2023 #IndiaontheRise #Badminton,” tweeted BAI Media.

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In the men’s doubles competition, the duo of M R Arjun and Dhruv Kapila crashed out of the tournament in round of 32 while the star team of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty made it to the next round.

Dhruv and Arjun went down to the Malaysian duo of Ong Yew Sin and Teo Ee Yi by 21-12, 16-21, 12-21 while “Sat-Chi’ as the other popular duo is known, defeated Malaysia’s Tan Kian Meng and Tan Wee Kiong by 21-14, 21-17.

Prannoy H S also downed Myanmar’s Phone Pyae Naing by 21-14, 21-9. “2 important wins to conclude the day Sat-Chi & Prannoy cruise into the R16 with ease :@badmintonphoto #BAC2023 #IndiaontheRise #Badminton,” tweeted BAI Media.

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“So close yet so far Arjun/Dhruv fell short against WR-8 duo! :@badmintonphoto
#BAC2023 #Badminton,” added BAI in another tweet.

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The Indian women’s duo of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand also advanced to the pre-quarters stage. They defeated the Indonesian duo of Lanny Tria Mayasari and Ribika Sugiarto by 17-21, 21-17, 21-18. “Thunder Women start off with a win, enter the pre-quarters : @badmintonphoto #BAC2023 #IndiaontheRise #Badminton,” tweeted BAI Media.

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Earlier, BWF World Championships bronze medallist and Commonwealth Games champion Lakshya Sen crashed out of Badminton Asia Championships on Wednesday. He lost his opening game to world champion Loh Kean Yew of Singapore in straight games in the men’s singles opening round on Wednesday. Lakshya lost in two straight games 7-21, 21-23 to the Singaporean shuttler in 37 minutes.

In the first set, Indian shuttler seemed to have no specific plan against Loh and lost by a huge margin of 7-21 in the first game. After the disappointing opening, Lakshya made a comeback by gaining a lead of 11-9 in the second game. He even got to the game point as he was leading by 20-19. However, he failed to capitalise and lost the match 21-23.

Krishna Prasad Garaga and Vishnu Vardhan Goud lost their men’s double game against the Japanese pair of Kobayashi Yugo and Takuro Hoki. Krishna and Vishnu lost against former world champions in two straight games 15-21, 17-21.

In the women’s doubles, Ashna Roy and Haritha Harinarayanan were defeated by the Thailand duo of Jongkolphon Kitithrakul and Rawinda Prajongjai 21-11, 21-2.

Due to Lakshya’s relatively low ranking of 24 on the BWF list, he faced a challenging draw in his first game of the Badminton Asia Championships. The Commonwealth Games gold medallist is suffering a rough patch from the start of the 2023 season. He has played seven tournaments so far and has reached quarter-final in only one tournament.

The Indian mixed doubles duo of Rohan Kapoor and N Sikki Reddy entered the pre-quarters of the ongoing Badminton Asia Championships 2023 on Wednesday. They recorded a 21-12, 21-16 win over the Malaysian duo of Chan Peng Soon and Cheah Yee See in the round of 32 on Wednesday.

“XD pair Rohan/Sikki enter pre-quarters Fabulous start to day! : @badmintonphoto
#BAC2023 #IndiaontheRise #Badminton,” tweeted the Badminton Association of India (BAI) Media.

On the other hand, the men’s doubles duo of VS Ravikrishna and Sankar Prasad lost their round of 32 match to the Malaysian duo of Man Wei Chong and Kai Wun Tee by 12-21, 17-21.

The women’s doubles duo of Ashwini Bhat and Shikha Gautam also registered a round of 32 match against Meilysa Trias Puspitasari and Rachel Allessya of Indonesia by 22-20, 12-21 and 18-21.

In the women’s singles competition, Malvika Bansod also crashed out of the tournament in the round of 32 stage.
She lost to Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi by 23-25, 19-21.

The ongoing Badminton Asia Championships 2023 started from April 25 in Dubai and will go on till April 30. (ANI)