Ningbo (China)— Two-time Olympic medalist PV Sindhu kicked off her Badminton Asia Championships 2025 campaign with a commanding straight-game win over Indonesia’s Ester Nurumi Tri Wardoyo in the first round on Wednesday.
Sindhu, who had suffered a first-round exit at the Swiss Open against Denmark’s Julie Dawall Jakobsen in her last outing, bounced back with a 21-15, 21-19 victory in a 44-minute encounter.
Currently ranked 17th in the BWF World Rankings, Sindhu got off to a strong 4-1 start in the opening game. Wardoyo closed the gap to 6-5, but Sindhu pulled ahead again with three straight points. The Indonesian leveled at 9-9, but the 27-year-old Indian regained control and closed out the game 21-15.
The second game was more closely contested, with the players exchanging leads multiple times. Sindhu opened up a 15-12 advantage, but Wardoyo fought back to level the score at 19-all. Drawing on her experience, Sindhu—silver medalist at the 2016 Rio Olympics and bronze medalist at Tokyo 2020—clinched the final two points to secure the win.
Sindhu will next face third seed Akane Yamaguchi of Japan in the second round. The Indian star holds a 14-11 head-to-head lead over the former World Champion.
While Sindhu advanced, it was a day of mixed fortunes for Indian shuttlers, as top men’s singles players Lakshya Sen and H.S. Prannoy bowed out in the first round. However, Kiran George and Priyanshu Rajawat kept India’s hopes alive with strong performances.
Lakshya Sen, one of India’s top hopes, lost a hard-fought first game and eventually fell 18-21, 10-21 to Lee Chia-Hao of Chinese Taipei in a 35-minute clash. Sen had a bright start, leading 8-3 in the first game, but Lee staged a comeback to level at 8-all and then surged ahead. Despite a brief rally by Sen to tie at 16-16, Lee strung together six consecutive points to take the game. He continued the momentum into the second game, racing to a 15-5 lead and closing it out with another eight-point run.
H.S. Prannoy went down to China’s Lu Guang Zu in a grueling 90-minute battle, losing 16-21, 21-12, 11-21 in their Round of 32 encounter.
Kiran George provided a silver lining in men’s singles by defeating Kazakhstan’s Dmitry Panarin 21-16, 21-8 to move into the next round, where he will face third seed Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand. Vitidsarn dominated his opening match against Malaysia’s Tze Yong Ng with a 21-0, 21-12 win.
Priyanshu Rajawat also advanced to the Round of 16, coming from behind to beat Thailand’s Kantaphon Wangcharoen 20-22, 21-12, 21-10.
In women’s singles, India saw early exits from Aakarshi Kashyap, Malavika Bansod, and Anupama Upadhyaya, leaving PV Sindhu as the sole Indian woman remaining in the draw.
Aakarshi lost 13-21, 7-21 to second seed Han Yue of China. Malavika Bansod fell to Gao Fang Jie of China 14-21, 8-21, while Anupama was defeated by eighth seed and former World Champion Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand 13-21, 14-21.
In men’s doubles, the Indian duo of Pruthvi Krishnamurthy Roy and Sai Pratheek K went down 19-21, 12-21 to Hsiang Chiah Chiu of Chinese Taipei. However, Hariharan and Ruban Kumar secured a win over Sri Lanka’s Madhuka Dulanjana and Lahiru Weerasinghe.
In mixed doubles, Ashith Surya and Amrutha Pramuthesh defeated Thulith Palliyaguru and Panchali Adhikari 21-9, 21-13. Meanwhile, Rohan Kapoor and Ruthvika Shivani Gadde lost a tight three-game match, 21-18, 17-21, 17-21. (Source: IANS)
