Badminton
Singapore Open 2025: HS Prannoy, PV Sindhu advance to second round
PV Sindhu will face fifth seeded Chen Yufei in the Round of 16.
PV Sindhu advanced to the second round of the 2025 Singapore Open Super 750 (Photo credit: BAI)
The experienced Indian shuttlers PV Sindhu and HS Prannoy advanced to the second round of the 2025 Singapore Open Super 750 with a win in their respective singles matches on Tuesday.
While Prannoy was made to work hard against Rasmus Gemke of Denmark, Sindhu had a straight forward win over Canada's Wen Yu Zhang.
Up against a higher ranked opponent in Gemke, Prannoy had a good start to match as he opened up a slender 11-9 lead at the first mid-game interval.
He soon extended the lead to 17-11 but Gemke wasn't ready to throw in the towel so soon. The Danish shuttler fought back to win ten of the next 12 points played as he raced to win the opening game 21-19.
Though he was stunned by a late surge in the first game, Prannoy continued to put his head down and grind it out on the court. The Indian once again led 11-9 at the mid-game interval and built on the advantage to win the second game 21-16 and forced a decider.
The third game once again saw Prannoy open up a 11-9 lead. But this time there was no fight back from Gemke.
The Danish shuttler looked tired and far from his best as Prannoy upped the ante after the change of sides and raced to a 21-14 win to wrap up the match in a hour and 12 minutes.
Earlier in the day, PV Sindhu finally broke her string of first round exits in the 2025 BWF World Tour as she registered a 21-14, 21-9 win over Wen Yu Zhang.
The double Olympic medallist was too hot to handle for the world No 52 Zhang as Sindhu was never troubled in a match which lasted just 31 minutes.
Sindhu will next face the fifth seeded Chen Yu Fei in the Round of 16 on Thursday.
Dhruv Kapila-Tanisha Crasto, Malvika Bansod exit
Prannoy and Sindhu were the only Indians to register first round victories on Tuesday.
The likes of Dhruv Kapila-Tanisha Crasto in mixed doubles, Malvika Bansod in women's singles and others all bowed out in the first round in what was a mixed day for India.
While China's Cheng Xing and Zhang Chi made quick work of Kapila-Crasto 21-18, 21-13, Bansod went down 21-14, 18-21, 11-21 in a hard fought match against Thailand's Supanida Kathethong.
Priyanshu Rajawat also lost out 21-14, 10-21, 14-21 against Japan's Kodai Naraoka in a men's singles decider.
On the other hand, the likes of Kiran George, Anmol Kharb, Rakshita Sre Ramraj, Ashith Surya-Amrutha Pramuthesh, Kavipriya Selvam-Simran Singhi all crashed out in straight games.
