India Open 2025: Sindhu, Kiran George, Satwik-Chirag Advance to Quarters on Eventful Day

New Delhi, Jan 16 (NationPress) Former champion P.V. Sindhu reignited memories of her fierce gameplay while the rising star Kiran George maintained his composure under pressure to secure straight-game victories. Meanwhile, the men's doubles duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty staged a comeback after losing the first game to reach the quarterfinals of the India Open 2025, a BWF World Tour Super 750 event, at the KD Jadhav Indoor Hall here on Thursday.

Sindhu, participating in her second tournament since the Paris Olympics, overwhelmed Japan's Manami Suizu with a score of 21-15, 21-13. Kiran George also triumphed over French player Alex Lanier with a score of 22-20, 21-13 in the men's singles second-round. Later, the 2022 champions Satwik/Chirag had to regroup after losing the first game to beat Japan's Kenya Mitsuhashi/Hiroki Okamura 20-22, 21-14, 21-16.

Among other notable players, last edition runners-up Lee Cheuk Yiu from Hong Kong faced a match point scare in the final set against Toma Junior Popov before winning the one-hour and sixteen-minute match 14-21, 21-18, 22-20, thereby advancing to the quarterfinals. While that match kept fans on the edge of their seats, Sindhu and George provided ample reasons for celebration.

Having been sidelined for over six months, Sindhu appeared rusty in her opening match against Shuo Yun Sung of Chinese Taipei. However, she showcased her aggressive style against Suizu, aiming for winners from both sides of the court.

After some initial exchanges, Sindhu surged to a 13-6 lead in the first game. Although Suizu narrowed the gap to 14-13, the Indian star maintained control and widened the gap again. The second game saw complete domination from Sindhu, who effortlessly found cross-court winners.

"Following a break, I appreciated my movement and the effectiveness of my attacks today. Moving forward, I need to be prepared for any challenges since the matches will get tougher," said Sindhu, who is set to face Gregoria Mariska Tunjung of Indonesia, the fourth seed, after she overcame another Japanese player, Natsuki Nadaira, with a score of 21-12, 24-22 in her second-round match.

Earlier, Kiran George saved six game points against Lanier in the first game. The 24-year-old, who entered the tournament from the reserves list, initially struggled as the Frenchman executed precise attacks. Lanier surged to a 20-14 lead in the first game, but Kiran made a remarkable comeback, winning eight consecutive points to claim the game 22-20. At that moment, he focused on keeping the shuttle in play long enough for his opponent to falter, leading to a series of errors from the Frenchman.

"At 14-20, I concentrated on one point at a time, not dwelling on the score or the lead. I believe that mindset helped me secure the game," George stated post-victory.

He will now face Weng Hongyang from China, who triumphed over Malaysia's Jun Hao Leong with a score of 21-18, 21-12 in another second-round match.

It seemed that Satwik and Chirag would also progress through straight games when they established an 18-14 lead and held a game point at 20-19, but they failed to capitalize and lost the first game. However, that slip didn’t prove costly as the Indian duo quickly regained control in the second game, maintaining their advantage to win in one hour and eleven minutes.

Unfortunately, it was not a successful day for other Indian participants, with the women's doubles teams of Ashwini Ponnappa/Tanisha Crasto, Rutuparna Panda/Swetaparna Panda, and mixed doubles pairs Dhruv Kapila/Tanisha and Ashith Surya/Amrutha Pramuthesh being eliminated in the second round.

Dhruv and Tanisha fought valiantly against the eighth seeds Hiroki Midorikawa and Natsu Saito from Japan but ultimately fell short, losing 21-18, 21-17. Later, Tanisha and Ashwini also had a mixed day as they lost 9-21, 21-23 to Japan’s Yuki Fukushima and Mayu Matsumoto.