Ishaan and Sai Pratheek took just 30 minutes to get the better of English duo
Tokyo Olympian B Sai Praneeth will lock horns with Japan's Koki Watanabe, while Sourabh Verma faces France's Toma Junior Popov.
P V Sindhu survived a scare before beating unheralded compatriot Ira Sharma in three games to enter the women's singles quarter-finals at the Syed Modi International Super 300 badminton tournament.
Double Olympic medallist PV Sindhu, who hasn't played any tournament since the Birmingham Games due to an ankle injury, is now world number five after moving up a spot.
The top seeded Indian duo, who reached the semi-finals of the season-opening Malaysia Open super 1000, was scheduled to face Chinese Taipei's Su Ching Heng and Ye Hong Wei in the opening round.
However, Birmingham Commonwealth Games bronze medallists Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand bowed out of the tournament after losing their opening women's doubles match in straight games.
He will next face sixth seed Li Shi Feng of China in the last-eight round.
PV Sindhu cruised into the women's singles final with a dominating straight-game win over fellow Indian Unnati Hooda in the semis.
Down 0-2, the Indians showed great fighting spirit as the doubles pair of Dhruv Kapila and Chirag Shetty and PV Sindhu levelled the scores after reverses in the first two matches.
In the mixed doubles, the Indian duo of Ishaan Bhatnagar and Tanisha Crasto lost 13-21, 12-21 to the Chinese pair of Feng Yan Zhe and Huang Dong Ping in the first round.
Fellow Indian Kidambi Srikanth also jumped two places to sit at the 12th spot, while Lakshya Sen continued to be the best-placed Indian male shuttler at world number 9.
A former world no. 2, Sindhu has regained her place in the top 5 after three years. The former world champion from Hyderabad resumed her training on Monday after recovering from the injury.
Commonwealth Games champion Lakshya Sen continued to be the best-placed Indian at number seven while former world no. 1 Kidambi Srikanth gained a rung to the 11th position.
Indian women's badminton star Saina Nehwal crashed out of the women's singles competition in the first round after a loss to China's Zhang Yiman. She lost the match 17-21, 21-19,11-21. After being a game down, Nehwal made a comeback in the second game but lost the final one.
Two-time Olympic medallist P V Sindhu rallied from a game down to eke out a hard-fought win over Thailand's Supanida Katethong and enter the semi-finals of the Syed Modi International Super 300 tournament, in Lucknow, on Friday.
Seventh seeded Indians Ishaan Bhatnagar and Tanisha Crasto clinched the mixed doubles title with a straight-games' win over compatriots T Hema Nagendra Babu and Srivedya Gurazada.
Lakshya Sen and Saina Nehwal made impressive starts at the Indonesia Masters Super 500 badminton tournament, advancing to the second round of men's and women's singles respectively with contrasting victories in Jakarta on Wednesday.
Double Olympic medallist PV Sindhu, who is returning from an ankle injury, begins her campaign against former World Champion Carolina Marin of Spain in the first round of Malaysia Open.
Saina Nehwal produced a fine performance to kick-off her BWF World Championships campaign with a straight game win over Hong Kong's Cheung Ngan Yi.
Tokyo Olympian B Sai Praneeth will meet compatriot HS Prannoy in his opening match, while former Commonwealth Games champion Parupalli Kashyap will square off against a qualifier.
This was the third title for the Indian duo -- they had clinched the Abu Dhabi Masters Super 100 and Nantes International Challenge this year.
Seventh seed Sindhu lost 14-21 18-21 to Bing Jiao in the women's singles.
India's Saina Nehwal on Saturday crashed out of the Orleans Masters after losing in the semi-final against Denmark's Line Christophersen, in Paris on Saturday.
The Indian men's team, led by Srikanth, had beaten powerhouse and 14-time champions Indonesia in the final to win the country's maiden Thomas Cup title on Sunday.
It was yet another forgettable outing in Tokyo for Praneeth, following his struggles at last year's Olympic Games where he participated without a proper coach or physio to eventually bow out early.
None of the other three quarters boast of such a strong star cast but there would be a few mouth-watering opening round clashes to look forward to.
Sindhu, a 2019 World Champion, lost 14-21, 21-15, 14-21 to Zhang in a match that lasted 55 minutes.
The World No 11 Srikanth will take on China's Lu Guang Zu in the next round.
Former World champion P V Sindhu needed 36 minutes to get the better of the 21-year-old Chaliha 21-7, 21-18 and set up a last-four meeting with Thailand's Supanida Katethong.
Young Indian shuttler Ashmita Chaliha recorded the first upset of the India Open when she stunned fifth seed Evgeniya Kosetskaya while top seed P V Sindhu sailed into the women's singles second round of the tournament, in Delhi, on Tuesday.
World Championships bronze medallist Simranjit Kaur (60kg) and GeeBee Boxing silver medallist Dinesh Dagar (69kg) confirmed their places in the final, while Ankush Dahiya (64kg) and Ananta Pralhad Chopade (52kg) made it to the semi-finals.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Saturday
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Saturday
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances