Singapore Badminton Open: PV Sindhu ends opening round exit jinx with emphatic win over Wen Yu Zhang

SINGAPORE CITY: PV Sindhu broke the opening round jinx and stormed into the pre-quarterfinals of the Singapore Badminton Open 2025 women’s singles event on Tuesday.

Sindhu, who recently dropped to the 17th spot in the badminton rankings, ousted Canada’s world No. 52 shuttler Wen Yu Zhang 21-14, 21-9 in a contest that lasted just 31 minutes in the round of 32 match.

Just like their previous encounter in the opening round of the Spain Masters badminton tournament last year, which Sindhu won in straight sets, the Indian star continued her dominance over the Canadian.

The victory will reignite Sindhu’s hopes of finding her lost mojo, considering she suffered four successive opening-round exits in this year’s BWF World Tour. Her best run in 2025 was during the India Open in January, when she continued her campaign until the quarter-finals.

In the next round, Sindhu faces a tough challenge as she is destined to square off against Tokyo Olympic gold medalist and current world No.5 Chen Yu Fei of China on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Malvika Bansod and Anmol Kharb’s journey came to a bitter end. Malvika fought valiantly but eventually succumbed to Thailand’s world No. 9 Supanida Katethong by 14-21, 21-18, 21-11 defeat. Anmol lost a closely contested affair against Tokyo 2020 Olympic champion Chen Yufei of the People’s Republic of China by 21-11, 24-22.

In the men’s singles, HS Prannoy, ranked 34th, staged a comeback against Denmark’s Rasmus Gemke to stand triumphant in the fixture with a 21-19, 16-21, 14-21 victory in a clash that lasted for one hour and 12 minutes.

Priyanshu Rajawat made a promising start against the 2023 World Championships silver medallist Kodai Naraoka of Japan, but his journey in the Singapore Open ended following a 14-21, 21-10, 21-14 defeat. Paris 2024 Olympian Tanisha Crasto and her mixed doubles partner Dhruv Kapila crashed out after a defeat against China’s Cheng Xing/Zhang Chi 21-18, 21-13.

Singapore Open 2025:

India squad Men’s singles: HS Prannoy, Lakshya Sen, Priyanshu Rajawat, Kiran George

Women’s singles: PV Sindhu, Anmol Kharb, Aakarshi Kashyap, Malvika Bansod, Rakshita Ramraj, Anupama Upadhaya, Unnati Hooda

Men’s doubles: Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty

Women’s doubles: Treesa Jolly/Gayatri Gopichand, Kavipriya Selvam/Simran Singhi, Vaishnavi Khadkekar/Alisha Khan, Amrutha Pramuthesh/Sonali Singh

Mixed doubles – Dhruv Kapila/Tanisha Crasto, Rohan Kapoor/Ruthvika Shivani Gadde. (ANI)