Australian Open: HS Prannoy, Kidambi Srikanth advance to round of 16

Indian shuttlers had a brilliant opening round in men's singles at the 2025 Australian Open, with three players advancing to the round of 16 on Wednesday.

The experienced shuttlers HS Prannoy and Kidambi Srikanth registered a fighting three-game wins in their opening round matches against much younger opponents.

Prannoy had a terrible start to the match and lost the first game against Indonesia's Yohanes Marcellyno with a disappointing score of 6-21.

But then, the experienced shuttler made a powerful comeback and won the next two games, 21-12, 21-17, to clinch the match and progress to the pre-quarterfinals.

Kidambi upsets World No. 20

Kidambi, returning to BWF Circuit after almost a month, had a perfect start to his campaign, knocking down world no.20, Chia Hao Lee of Chinese Taipei in three games, 21-19, 10-21, 21-15.

He had a chance of finishing the match in straight games, after having a good 5-point lead in the second game, but then the youngster pushed back and forced a decider.

Kidambi composed himself and returned to the decider with an aggressive approach, and this time didn't let Chia any chance of a comeback, advancing to R16.

Youngsters Ayush Shetty and Tharun Mannepalli also followed their senior compatriot in the round of 16, registering a win in their opening round matches.

On the other hand, Kiran George fought bravely before going down against the last week's finalist, Kenta Nishimoto of Japan, 21-11, 22-24, 17-21.

He won the opening game pretty comfortably and was leading 17-14 in the second game, but then he lost four points on the trot and lost his advantage, conceding the game after extra points.