Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu and Paris 2024 semi-finalist Lakshya Sen progressed to the quarter-finals of the Syed Modi International 2024 badminton in Lucknow with contrasting wins on Wednesday.
Sindhu, who overcame a resilient Anmol Kharb in her opening round, survived a scare against Ira Sharma in the second round before winning the contest 21-10, 12-21, 21-15 in 49 minutes.
Sindhu, 18th in the badminton rankings for women’s singles, took the opening game with ease.
However, Ira Sharma, 147th in the rankings, unleashed an incredible 10-point streak to lead 11-1 at the interval. She maintained her momentum post-break and stunned the former world champion by forcing the contest into a deciding game.
The decider proved to be a see-saw battle, with the two Indian badminton players trading points before Sharma entered the mid-game interval with a slender two-point lead.
Facing the prospect of an upset, Sindhu clawed her way back to level the scores at 15-15 and then reeled off six consecutive points to book her place in the quarter-finals, where she will face Chinese youngster Dai Wang.
Meanwhile, Lakshya Sen got the better of Israel’s Daniil Dubovenko with a comfortable 21-14, 21-13 scoreline and will be up against fellow Indian Meiraba Luwang Maisnam.
India’s 17-year-old Unnati Hoodaunseeded in the competition, stunned the fourth seed Pornpicha Choeikeewong of Thailand to win 21-18, 22-20 in 46 minutes.
Unnati Hooda, who became the youngest Indian badminton player to win a BWF Super 100 World Tour title by winning the Odisha Open in 2022, was off to strong starts in both games.
The Indian badminton player led 11-6 in the first game before Choeikeewong, who came into the contest with a 2-0 head-to-head record, made it all square at 18-18. However, Hooda maintained her composure to win the final three points and take the opening game.
The second game followed a similar pattern with Hooda leading 11-6 before Choeikeewong equalised at 12-12. The two shuttlers exchanged leads several times after the break but Hooda pocketed the contest on her first match-point opportunity.
Meanwhile, Malvika Bansodseeded second in the tournament, was ousted after losing to 17-year-old Shriyanshi Valishetty 21-12, 21-15. Former junior world No. 1 Tasnim Mir progressed after winning against Anupama Upadhyaya 21-15, 13-21, 21-7.
India’s women’s doubles pairs of Paris 2024 Olympians Tanisha Crasto-Ashwini Ponnappa and Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Gayatri Gopichand-Treesa Jolly will be in action later in the day.
Syed Modi International 2024 badminton: Day 3 India results
Men’s singles
- Ayush Shetty bt Hoh Justin (MAS) 21-12, 21-19
- Shogo Ogawa (JPN) bt Kiran George [3] 19-21, 22-20, 21-11
- Meiraba Luang Maisnam bt Nhat Nguyen (IRL) 21-15, 21-13
- Lakshya Sen bt Daniil Dubovenko (ISR) 21-14, 21-13
- Priyanshu Rajawat bt Le Duc Phat (VIE) 21-15, 21-8
- Rithvik Sanjeevi Satish Kumar bt Wang Zheng Xing (CHN) 23-21, 7-3 (retired)
Women’s singles
- Unnati Hooda bt Pornpicha Choeikeewong (THA) 21-18, 22-20
- Wu Luo Yu (CHN) bt Rakshitha Sree Santhosh Ramraj 21-18, 10-21, 21-16
- Shriyanshi Valishetty bt Malvika Bansod 21-12, 21-15
- Dai Wang (CHN) bt Devika Sihag 21-14, 21-15
- PV Sindhu bt Ira Sharma 21-10, 12-21, 21-15
- Tasnim Mir bt Anupama Upadhyaya 21-15, 13-21, 21-7
Men’s doubles
- Ishaan Bhatnagar-Sankar Prasad Udayakumar (received walkover) vs Cui He Chen-Peng Jian Qin (CHN)
- Hariharan Amsakarunan-Ruban Kumar Rethinasabapathi bt Pharanyu Kaosamaang-Tanadon Punpanich (THA) 21-18, 21-17
- Kittinupong Kedren-Dechapol Puavaranukroh (THA) bt Prakash Raj-Gouse Shaik 21-13, 21-8
- Pruthvi Krishnamurthy Roy-Sai Pratheek K bt Chen Xu Jun-Guo Ruo Han (CHN) 21-14, 22-20
Women’s doubles
- Rutaparna Panda-Swetaparna Panda bt Dhanyaa Nandakumar-Arul Bala Radhakrishnan 21-15, 21-10
- Priya Konjengbam-Shruti Mishra bt Kavipriya Selvam-Simran Singhi 21-15, 21-12
- Gayatri Medical Care bt Go Pei Kee-Teoh Mei Xing (MAS) 21-7, 21-1
- Treesa Jolly-Gayatri Gopichand bt Ashwini Bhat K-Shikha Gautam 21-13, 21-10
- Tanisha Crasto-Ashwini Ponnappa bt Chen Su Yu-Yi En Hsieh (TPE) 21-19, 8-21, 21-12
Mixed doubles
- Liao Pin Yi-Huang Ke Xin (CHN) bt Rohan Kapoor-Gadde Ruthvika Shivani 21-18, 21-19
- Zhou Zhi Hong-Yang Jia Yi (CHN) bt Vishnu Sreekumar-Aparna Balan 21-11, 21-12
- Rory Easton-Lizzie Tolman (ENG) bt Deep Rambhiya-Simran Singhi 21-18, 21-12
- Loo Bing Kun-Ho Lo Ee (MAS) bt B Sumeeth Reddy-N Sikki Reddy 19-21, 21-16, 21-13
- Sathish Kumar Karunakaran-Aadya Variyath bt Chayanit Joshi-Kavya Gupta 21-18, 21-17
- Wong Tien Ci-Lim Chiew Sien (MAS) bt Gouse Shaik-Maneesha K 21-16, 21-18
- Dhruv Kapila-Tanisha Crasto bt Mohit Jaglan-Lakshita Jaglan 21-7, 21-13
