Asian Games Badminton: HS Prannoy, PV Sindhu get bye in first round

HS Prannoy and PV Sindhu have been handed a bye in the first round of men's and women singles individual events of badminton for the Asian Games 2023 on Sunday.

In men's singles, Prannoy will face Batdavaa Munkhbat of Mongolia in the second round. Prannoy, who is seeded fifth, is expected to run into Lee Zii Jia of Malaysia or Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand in the quarterfinal.

Although Prannoy is struggling with back pain at the moment, he was replaced by Mithun Manjunath in the final of the men's team event and will hopefully recover on time before his quarterfinal clash.

While HS Prannoy has been handed a good draw, Kidambi Srikanth will find it tough after the first round. The former world number one will face Le Duc Phat of Vietnam in the opening round.

In the second round, he will be up against Lee Yun Gyu of Korea and Kodai Naraoka will be waiting for him in round three. If Kidambi navigates through this challenges, he might face Loh Kean Yew in the quarterfinals.

Former world champion Sindhu also got a bye in the first round and will face Wen Chi Hsu of Chinese Taipei in the second round. Coming on the back of a poor season, Sindhu is most likely to face emerging star Putri Kusuma Wardani of Indonesia in round three and He Bing Jao of China in quarters. Sindhu won her last meeting against the Indonesian at the Madrid Spain Masters but lost a three-setter in the Swiss Open.

Another Indian competing in this category is Ashmita Chahila. She also received a bye in the first round and will face fifth-seeded Indonesia's Gregoria Mariska Tunjung in the second round.

In men's doubles, India's biggest hope for medal world number three pair of Chirag Shetty and Satwik Rankireddy will face off against Lui Chun Wai and Chow Hin Long of Hong Kong in the first round and Leo Rolly Carnando and Daniel Marthin of Indonesia in the second round.

If the duo goes through to semifinals, they might face familiar foes in the form of Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik of Malaysia.

Arjun MR and Dhruv Kapila have a very tough match in the first round where they will face the Japanese pair of Takuro Hoki and Yogi Kobayashi

In women's doubles, Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand will be up against Aminath Razzaq and Fathimath Razzaq of Maldives in the first round, and they will face the Korean pair of Kim So Yeong and Kong Hee Yong in the second round.

Another Indian pair of Tanisha Crasto and Ashwini Ponappa will take on Maisa Ismail and Aisath Rasheed of Maldives in the first round but have world-number five Zhang Su Xian and Zheng Yuw waiting in the second round.

Rohan Kapoor and N Sikki Reddy will lead India's challenge in mixed doubles where they will be up against world number 12 Lai Shevon Jemie and Goh Soon Huat of Malaysia.

Another mixed doubles pair Tanisha Crasto and Sai Pratheek will be up against Leong Lok Chong and Weng Chi NG of Macau in the first round and if they go through, they will face world number 11 Cheng Tang Jei and Toh Ei Wei in the second round.

The individual event of the Asian Games 2023 will start on 2nd October with the final on the 7th of October.