Indian shuttlers who competed at the Paris Olympics, including PV Sindhu, Lakshya Sen and the men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, are giving the tournament, the year's final BWF Super 1000 event, a miss.
Tanvi Patri didn't drop a single game across the five matches enroute to winning the title.
In mixed doubles, the husband-wife Indian pair of B Sumeeth Reddy and N Sikki Reddy defeated Malaysia's Wong Tien Ci and Lim Chiew Sien 21-17, 21-19.
Malvika Bansod pulled off a sensational straight-game victory over Paris Olympics bronze medallist Gregoria Mariska Tanjong of Indonesia in the women's singles opening round.
Indian shuttler Kidambi Srikanth opened his campaign at the Thailand Masters badminton tournament with a straight game win over Chinese Taipei's Wang Tzu Wei in Bangkok on Wednesday.
Bansod took just over half an hour to dispatch 16-year-old Tasnim in the pre-quarterfinals
Sindhu took just 33 minutes to get the better of American Lauren Lam 21-16 21-13
Two-time Olympic medallist P V Sindhu stormed into the second round of the women's singles in the Syed Modi International Super 300 badminton tournament after a dominating victory over compatriot Tanya Hemanth, in Lucknow, on Wednesday.
Former world No. 1 Saina, who missed a lot of tournaments last year due to multiple injuries, moved to the second round after her opponent, Czech Republic's Tereza Svabikova, suffered a back injury and retired mid-way while trailing 20-22, 0-1 in an opening round match.
The other men's singles semi-final match on Saturday will be played between Priyanshu Rajawat and Kaushal Dharmamer.
In the women's section, defending champion Unnati Hooda, national champion Anupama Upadhyaya, Ashmita Chaliha, Imad Farooqui Samiya, Tasnim Mir reached the pre-quarterfinals.
The 16-year-old from Gujarat was rewarded for last year's stellar run, which saw her win titles in three junior international tournaments. It enabled her rise three places and take the top position in the BWF junior rankings.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Saturday
