PV Sindhu advances to Indonesia Open; Lakshya Sen, Kidambi Srikanth crash

PV Sindhu (Photo by @BAI_Media on X) NEW DELHI: Indian badminton star PV Sindhu started her Indonesia Open campaign on a winning note as she overcame a tough challenge from Thailand’s Busanan Ongbamrungphan to advance to the second round. However, it was disappointing for several other Indian shuttlers, including Kidambi Srikanth and Lakshya Sen, who crashed out in their opening matches.Sindhu had to dig deep to secure a 25-23, 21-16 victory in a match that lasted 51 minutes. The two-time Olympic medalist was pushed hard in the first game but managed to hold her nerve in the crucial moments before carrying that momentum into the second game to close out the contest in straight games.The former world champion now looks set for a tough second-round clash with reigning Olympic champion and world number one An Se-young. Sindhu has faced the South Korean star in the past and holds a head-to-head record of 0-9 against her. The two also recently met in the quarterfinals of the Singapore Open, where An emerged victorious.While Sindhu progressed, the men’s singles campaign suffered major setbacks. Former world number one Kidambi Srikanth was defeated by Japan’s Yushi Tanaka 19:21, 15:21. Lakshya Sen, who advanced to the quarter-finals of the Singapore Open last week, also crashed out to Indonesia’s Alwi Farhan after losing 19-21, 16-21.In the women’s singles, Malvika Bansod comfortably beat seventh seed Pornpawee Chochuwong of Thailand 21-12, 21-10.There was good news in the doubles as Hariharan Amsakarunan and MR Arjun advanced to the second round with a convincing 21-18, 21-10 win over Malaysia’s Nur Mohd Azriyn Ayub and Tan Wee Kiong.However, Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand suffered a straight-sets defeat in the women’s doubles, while the mixed pair of Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto also exited after losing to sixth-seeded Chinese opponents Guo Xin Wa and Chen Fang Hui.