PV Sindhu, Unnati win; Satwik-Chirag progress at China Open 2025

Business Standard

14 hours ago

Double Olympic medallist P V Sindhu overcame world number six Tomoka Miyazaki of Japan to make a promising start to her campaign at the China Open Super 1000 badminton tournament here on Wednesday.
Sindhu, a former world champion, prevailed 21-15, 8-21, 21-17 over the 2022 world junior champion Miyazaki in 62 minutes.
"It was a much-awaited win for me. The first round was very important for me to cross. It was three games (contest) and even in the third set, it was important for me to take the lead from the beginning because one side was very disadvantaged," Sindhu said.
"So, it started off really good, but in the second game, it was hard for me to control. And in the third game, it was important that I take the lead and maintain that.
"It was important for me to win these matches so that it will also give me a moral boost and also that confidence. Because sometimes I've been coming close, yet I've been losing. I need to continue this tempo and keep going." The 30-year-old from Hyderabad will now face fellow Indian Unnati Hooda, a winner of two super 100 titles at the 2022 Odisha Masters and 2023 Abu Dhabi Masters.
The 17-year-old Unnati stunned Scotland's Kirsty Gilmour, a two-time medallist at the Commonwealth Games, 21-11, 21-16 in a 36-minute match at the Olympic Sports Centre Gymnasium.
The world No. 15 men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty also made a strong start, defeating Japan's Kenya Mitsuhashi and Hiroki Okamura 21-13, 21-9 in just 31 minutes.
The Asian Games champions will next face eight seeded Indonesian combination of Leo Rolly Carnando and Bagas Maulana.
Sindhu vs Miyazaki Sindhu started strongly, reeling off seven consecutive points to lead 13-5 in the opening game before sealing it comfortably.
In the second game, Miyazaki fought back brilliantly, taking nine points in a row to lead 12-8 before restoring parity.
Sindhu regained control in the decider, maintaining a steady lead to close out the contest and secure a hard-fought win in 62 minutes.
Currently ranked 15th in the world, Sindhu was facing the 18-year-old Miyazaki for the second time, having lost to the Japanese youngster at the Swiss Open last year.
Last week, Sindhu had suffered a first-round exit at the Super 750 Japan Open, losing 15-21, 14-21 to Korea's Sim Yu Jin -- her fifth first-round defeat this year.
The Indian ace is hoping to bounce back from a string of early exits this season, which includes first or second-round losses at the Indonesia Open, Singapore Open, Malaysia Masters, Asian Championships, Swiss Open, All England Open and Indonesia Masters.
In men's doubles, Satwik and Chirag combined well to keep their opponents under constant pressure, winning the first game comfortably before wrapping up the second even more emphatically.
The former world No. 1 pair will be looking to break their semi-final jinx this season, having reached the last four at the Malaysia Open, India Open and Singapore Open.
However, it was disappointment for the women's doubles team of Rutaparna Panda and Swetaparna Panda, who lost to Hong Kong's Nga Ting Yeung and Pui Lam Yeung 12-21, 13-21 in 31 minutes.