India's leading shuttlers, PV Sindhu and HS Prannoy, have advanced to the Round of 16 at the 2024 Badminton Asia Championships in Ningbo, China. Both players had to fight hard in their opening rounds on Wednesday. Sindhu managed to beat Malaysia’s Goh Jin Wei in a three-set thriller (18-21, 21-14, 21-19), while Prannoy edged out China’s Lu Guang Zu in two tight tiebreakers (17-21, 23-21, 23-21). The matches were tense, particularly for Sindhu, who dominated the second game after a slow start but struggled to maintain her lead in the deciding set.
Indian ace shuttlers PV Sindhu and HS Prannoy advanced to the Round of 16 at the 2024 Badminton Asia Championships on Wednesday after winning their opening matches. The competition is being held in Ningbo, China. Sindhu defeated Malaysia’s Goh Jin Wei 18-21, 21-14, 21-19 in a hard-fought win, while Prannoy defeated China’s Lu Guang Zu 17-21, 23-21, 23-21. Both players had to work hard to win, with Sindhu nearly losing the third game after giving up a five-point lead. After losing the first game 17-21, the two-time Olympic medalist showed her class in the second game, winning easily with a seven-point lead.
Despite the tension in the final game, Sindhu kept her composure to close out the win. The 28-year-old will now take on Han Yue of China on Thursday, April 11, in the Round of 16—an opponent she has dominated with a perfect 5-0 head-to-head record. As she prepares for the Paris Olympics, Sindhu is working hard to find her peak form, and this victory was a testament to her resilience and skill under pressure.
On the other side of the court, Prannoy demonstrated incredible mental toughness in a grueling 90-minute marathon. After a sluggish start that saw him drop the first game by four points, he nearly lost the second set after giving up a five-point advantage. However, he managed to push it to a tiebreaker and win. He showed similar grit in the final set, fighting back from a 5-11 deficit to claim the match.
Next up for the 31-year-old Indian is a clash with Chinese Taipei's Lin Chun-Yi. This progress is a significant relief for Prannoy, the tournament's seventh seed, who had struggled with four first-round exits earlier this year. Unfortunately, it was a different story for Lakshya Sen and Kidambi Srikanth, who were eliminated immediately. Sen fell to the top seed, Shi Yu Qi of China (19-21, 15-21), while Srikanth was outclassed by Indonesia's Anthony Ginting Sisuka (14-21, 13-21).
India faced several other setbacks in the tournament, with Priyanshu Rajawat exiting the men's singles. The doubles categories also saw disappointing results, as pairs Rutaparana and Swetaparna Panda (women's), Krishna Prasad Garaga and Sai Pratheek (men's), Sathish Karunakaran and Aadya Variyath (mixed), and Arjun MR and Dhruv Kapila (men's) were all knocked out.
The promising young Rajawat struggled against Malaysia's Lee Zii Jia, the eighth seed, losing quickly in 39 minutes with a score of 9-21, 13-21. Meanwhile, Arjun and Kapila suffered a heartbreaking loss in a nail-biting match against the seventh-seeded Chinese duo Liu Yu Chen and Ou Xuan Yi, falling 21-23, 21-19, 24-26.