Former champion Lakshya Sen produced a composed and tactical performance to advance to the quarterfinals of the $950,000 India Open Super 750 badminton tournament but Kidambi Srikanth and HS Prannoy bowed out after a spirited show, in New Delhi, on Thursday.
Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu has pulled out of the upcoming Badminton Asia Team Championships, dealing a major blow to Indian team's medal chances at the tournament beginning next week.
Two-time Olympics medallist P V Sindhu, Lakshya Sen and the star pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty form the core of India's squad for the Badminton Asia Team Championships, in Qingdao, China, from February 3-8.
Defending champions Indian women's team started its campaign at the Badminton Asia Team Championships on a resounding note, blanking Myanmar 5-0 in their opening Group Y tie in Qingdao, China on Wednesday.
India ace Lakshya Sen made a fine start to the new season, advancing to the men's singles second round with a hard-fought win over Jia Heng Jason Teh of Singapore at the Malaysia Open Super 750 badminton tournament in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday.
India's men's and women's teams advanced to the quarter-finals despite suffering narrow 2-3 defeats to Japan and Thailand respectively in their final group ties at the Badminton Asia Team Championships in Qingdao, China, on Thursday.
Bansod took just over half an hour to dispatch 16-year-old Tasnim in the pre-quarterfinals
Earlier, former world No.1 Srikanth had to dig deep to outlast fellow Indian Tharun Mannepalli 15-21, 21-6, 21-19.
Seventeen-year-old Unnati, champion at the 2022 Odisha Masters and 2023 Abu Dhabi Masters, was no match for world No. 2 and top seed Pornpawee Chochuwong, going down 14-21, 11-21 in just 39 minutes.
Malvika will next face eighth seed Denmark's Julie Dawall Jakobsen in the last four encounter.
Sindhu, Lakshya to head India's campaign at Asian C'ships
Sindhu, Prannoy advance to second round of Singapore Open
Rising Indian shuttler Malvika Bansod's impressive run at the Hylo Open Super 300 concluded with a runner-up finish, as she fell to Denmark's Mia Blichfeldt on Sunday.
Lakshya Sen stunned world No 2 Jonatan Christie of Indonesia in straight games
The Nagpur shuttler was no match for Yamaguchi in the opening game as the Japanese took a massive eight-point lead at 12-4 before closing out the game at 21-10.
Rising Indian shuttler Malvika Bansod continued her impressive form this year, pulling off a stunning upset against world No. 23 Sung Shuo Yun of Chinese Taipei to advance to the women's singles pre-quarterfinals of the Arctic Open Super 500 tournament on Tuesday.
This is Sindhu's third consecutive first round loss.
Sen fell to Ireland's Nhat Nguyen in a tense three-game battle, losing 18-21, 21-9, 17-21 in a men's singles match that lasted one hour and 20 minutes.
India secured a dominant 5-0 victory over Macau in their opening group D tie of the Badminton Asia Mixed Team Championship.
India's Ayush Shetty produced a sensational straight-game victory over former world champion Loh Kean Yew of Singapore at the Orleans Masters.
Double Olympic medallist P V Sindhu made a winning start to the Badminton Asia Championships with a straight-game win over Ester Nurumi Wardoyo of Indonesia in the women's singles while Lakshya Sen made an early exit from the men's singles draw in Ningbo, China, on Wednesday.
India's badminton team lost their Group D tie against South Korea 2-3 in the Badminton Asia Mixed Team Championship.
Top seed and 2018 winner Shi Yu Qi of China dispatched Indonesia's Chico Aura Dwi Wardoyo 21-13, 21-8 while compatriot Li Shi Feng, world number six, came from behind to beat Canadian Brian Yang 21-11, 18-21, 21-16.
P V Sindhu overcame long-time rival Nozomi Okuhara of Japan to advance to the Round of 16.
The 24-year-old from Amalapuram expressed his gratitude to his partner for being there during this challenging time.
It's a demoralising loss for especially considering Japan did not field their full-strength team, with several top players absent.
Star Indian shuttlers PV Sindhu and Lakshya Sen will spearhead a strong contingent at the USD 250,000 Swiss Open, beginning on Tuesday, aiming to regain top form.
Later, India's challenge came to a crashing halt after the women's doubles pair of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand lost their quarterfinals.
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty advanced to the quarter-finals, while H S Prannoy's valiant fight ended in a narrow second round loss at the Malaysia Super 1000 badminton tournament.
No Indian features in the men's singles and men's doubles events.
PV Sindhu is set to make a much-anticipated return to competitive badminton at the India Open Super 750 tournament after missing the season opener in Kuala Lumpur due to her wedding.
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.
The mixed doubles pair of Sathish Kumar Karunakaran and Aadya Variyath lost 12-21, 15-21 to the Chinese combine of Cheng Xing and Zhang Chi.
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.
While India have never won the gold at the Asia Mixed Team Championships, they did secure mixed team gold and silver at the Commonwealth Games in 2018 and 2022.
Two-time Olympic medallist Sindhu defeated rising shuttler Anmol Kharb 21-17, 21-15, while Lakshya, 2021 world championships bronze medallist, powered past Malaysian qualifier Sholeh Aidil 21-12, 21-12 in another match.
Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand (women's doubles) and B Sumeeth Reddy and N Sikki Reddy (mixed doubles) suffered three-game defeats in their opening contests.
PV Sindhu and Lakshya Sen progressed to the second round with superlative wins in the women's and men's singles events at the China Masters
Lakshya Sen, Malvika Bansod make first-round exits at Denmark Open
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