Asian Games: Sindhu & Prannoy Enter Round of 16, Doubles Pairs Also Record Wins

Asian Games: PV Sindhu, HS Prannoy and women's doubles pair of Treesa-Gayatri have advanced to next rounds

India's PV Sindhu reacts after winning a point against Wen-Chi Hsu of Chinese Taipei during their womens singles badminton match at the 19th Asian Games, in Hangzhou, China, Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2023.

PTI

India's best hopes in the badminton individual competitions, PV Sindhu and HS Prannoy cruised into the Round of 16 at the 19th Asian Games, on Tuesday.

Two-time Olympic medallist Sindhu, who got a bye in the first round, needed 42 minutes to defeat Wen-Chi Hsu of Chinese Taipei 21-10, 21-15 in a Round of 32 match played at the Binjiang Gymnasium here.

Sindhu, who won a silver in the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and a bronze in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, will next play Wardani Putri Kusuma of Indonesia, who defeated Hong Kong China's Liang Ka Wing 21-11, 21-10 in another preliminary round match.

Prannoy, who seems to have recovered from the niggle that kept him out of the Team final against China, cruised past Batdavaa Munkhbat of Mongolia 21-9, 21-12 in just 26 minutes.

In the first game, Prannoy broke away from 7-7 to win the next 10 points before the Mongolian player won his 8th point of the game. Prannoy went on to win the game 21-9.

Prannoy took an early lead in the second game too and maintained the advantage as he was not much tested by the lower-ranked Mongolian player.

Among other Indians, Asmita Chaliha went down to Indonesia's Gregoria Mariska Tunjung 17-21, 16-21 in a women's singles Round of 32 match. 

The women's doubles pairs of Treesa Jolly/Gayatri Gopichand and Tanisha Crasto/Ashwini Ponnappa advanced to the next round getting past pairs from Maldives. 

Treesa and Gayatri beat Abdul Razzaq Aminath Nabeeha/Abdul Razzaq Fathimath Nabeeha 21-14, 21-12 while Tanisha and Ashwini made it to the next round when their opponents Maisa Fathuhulla Ismail and Aishath Afnaan Rasheed retired while trailing 2-21, 2-12.