Badminton Asia Championships: Sindhu Wins, Prannoy and Lakshya Eliminated in Opening Round

Ningbo (China), April 9 (NationPress) Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu kicked off her campaign at the Badminton Asia Championships 2025 with a dominant 2-0 victory against Ester Nurumi Tri Wardoyo from Indonesia in the first round on Wednesday. Sindhu, who faced an early exit in her previous tournament against Julie Dawall Jakobsen of Denmark, claimed the match with scores of 21-15 and 21-19 over a span of 44 minutes.

Currently ranked 17th in the BWF World Rankings, Sindhu established a 4-1 advantage in the opening game, but Wardoyo battled back, narrowing the score to 6-5. Sindhu then pulled ahead with three consecutive points, only for Ester to level the game at 9-9. From that point, the 27-year-old player took charge and won the first game 21-15.

The second game was fiercely contested, with both athletes exchanging leads multiple times until Sindhu gained a 15-12 edge. The Indonesian, ranked 36th globally, responded by closing in at 17-18 and eventually equalized at 19-19. Nonetheless, Sindhu, who previously earned a silver medal at the 2016 Olympics in Rio and a bronze in Tokyo, secured the next three points to conclude her victory.

Next, Sindhu is set to face the third-seeded Akane Yamaguchi of Japan, against whom she leads the head-to-head record 14-11.

On the other hand, top Indian players Lakshya Sen and H.S. Prannoy were eliminated, while Kiran George triumphed in his men's singles match as India's performance showed mixed results on Day 2 of the competition. Priyanshu Rajawat also moved ahead to the Round of 16 after defeating Kantaphon Wangcharoen from Thailand with scores of 20-22, 21-12, 21-10.

Lakshya, a prominent name in Indian badminton, experienced a narrow loss in his first-round match against Lee Chai-Hao of Chinese Taipei, concluding with scores of 18-21, 10-21 in just 35 minutes. The first game was tightly contested; while Lakshya initially led 8-3, Lee rallied to tie at 8-8 and eventually took control, winning six consecutive points to secure the first game. In the second game, Lee surged ahead to 6-2 and extended his lead to 15-5, ultimately winning the match.

Prannoy faced Lu Guang Zu of China and lost in a Round of 32 match, with scores of 16-21, 21-12, 11-21 after an hour and 30 minutes.

Kiran George kept Indian hopes alive in men's singles by defeating Dmitry Panarin from Kazakhstan in straight games, winning 21-16, 21-8 in the Round of 32. He will next encounter third seed Kunlavut Vitidsarn from Thailand, who defeated Tze Yong Ng of Malaysia 21-0, 21-12 in the first round.

In women's singles, Aakarshi Kashyap, Malavika Bansod, and Anupama Upadhyaya exited the tournament, leaving PV Sindhu as the sole remaining Indian female player. Aakarshi lost 21-13, 21-7 to second seed Yue Han of China, while Malavika succumbed to Gao Fang Jie with scores of 14-21, 8-21. Anupama was eliminated by former World Champion and eighth seed Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand after a 13-21, 14-21 defeat.

In men's doubles, India’s Pruthvi Krishnamurthy Roy and Sai Pratheek K lost to Hsiang Chiah Chiu of Chinese Taipei, with scores of 19-21, 12-21, whereas Hariharan and Ruban Kumar achieved victory over Sri Lanka's Madhuka Dulanjana and Lahiru Weebasinghe.

In mixed doubles, Ashith Surya and Amrutha Pramuthesh from India defeated Thulith Palliyaguru and Panchali Adhikari with scores of 9-21, 11-13, while Rohan Kapoor and Ruthvika Shivani Gadde concluded their match with scores of 21-18, 17-21, 17-21.