Indian ace shuttlers PV Sindhu and HS Prannoy advanced to the Round of 16 at the 2024 Badminton Asia Championships on Wednesday after winning their opening matches. The competition is being held in Ningbo, China. Sindhu defeated Malaysia’s Goh Jin Wei 18-21, 21-14, 21-19 in a hard-fought win, while Prannoy defeated China’s Lu Guang Zu 17-21, 23-21, 23-21. Both players had to work hard to win, with Sindhu nearly losing the third game after giving up a five-point lead. After losing the first game 17-21, the two-time Olympic medalist showed her class in the second game, winning easily with a seven-point lead.

Sindhu struggled in the third and final game, but she remained calm and cool, eventually winning the match. The 28-year-old star shuttler will next face China’s Han Yue in the Round of 16 on Thursday, April 11. Sindhu has a flawless 5-0 record against Yue. Sindhu, who is desperately seeking to rediscover her form ahead of the Paris Olympics, survived some tense moments with her sheer brilliance.

Meanwhile, Prannoy showed exemplary mental fortitude to prevail over his Chinese in a grueling 90-minute battle. Prannoy struggled to get going in the first game and lost by four points. He was on the edge of losing the second game after blowing a five-point lead, but he managed to force a tiebreaker. In the third set, Prannoy rallied from 5-11 down to win the game and the match.

The 31-year-old Indian shuttler will face Lin Chun-Yi of Chinese Taipei in the following round. Prannoy, the tournament’s seventh seed, has already lost in the first round four times this year. Lakshya Sen and Kidambi Srikanth, among others, were sent home after losing their first-round match. Sen was defeated by first seed Shi Yu Qi of China in straight games 19-21, 15-21, while Srikanth was defeated by Indonesia’s Anthony Ginting Sisuka 14-21, 13-21 in the opening round.

Other disappointing results for India included the elimination of Priyanshu Rajawat (men’s singles), Rutaparana Panda and Swetaparna Panda (women’s doubles), Krishna Prasad Garaga and Sai Pratheek (men’s doubles), Sathish Karunakaran and Aadya Variyath (mixed doubles), and Arjun MR and Dhruv Kapila (men’s doubles).

Young and talented Rajawat was no match for eight-seeded Lee Zii Jia of Malaysia, losing 9-21, 13-21 in 39 minutes. Arjun and Kapila too were left heartbroken after losing 21-23, 21-19, 24-26 against the seventh-seeded Chinese pair of Liu Yu Chen and Ou Xuan Yi.