Badminton Asia Championships: PV Sindhu Wins; Lakshya Sen, Kidambi Srikanth Lose In Opening Round

A valiant HS Prannoy rallied his way to a morale-boosting three-game win over China's Lu Guang Zu as he and double Olympic medallist PV Sindhu progressed to the second round of the Badminton Asia Championships at Ningbo China on Wednesday. World No. 9 Prannoy showed exemplary mental fortitude as he battled for 90 minutes before prevailing 17-21 23-21 23-21 over Lu, ranked 16th, to set up a second-round clash with Chinese Taipei's Lin Chun-Yi. Sindhu, who is desperately seeking to rediscover her form ahead of the Paris Olympics, too survived some tense moments before overcoming world number 33 Goh Jin Wei from Malaysia 18-21 21-14 21-19 in a tough opening round match.

Sindhu, who had lost to Jin Wei the last time they meet in Sudirman Cup but has a overall 4-1 record against her opponent, almost blew away a five-point advantage in the decider before managing to come up trumps. Next up for Sindhu is China's Han Yue, against whom the Indian has a flawless 5-0 record.

It was, however, a difficult day for Olympic-bound Lakshya Sen, who lost 19-21 15-21 to local favourite and top seed Shi Yu Qi, and Kidambi Srikanth, who suffered a 14-21 13-21 loss against Indonesia's Anthony Ginting in the opening round.

Talented Priyanshu Rajawat also was no match for eight-seeded Lee Zii Jia of Malaysia, losing 9-21 13-21 in 39 minutes.

MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila too was left heartbroken after losing 21-23 21-19 24-26 against seventh seeded Chinese pair of Liu Yu Chen and Ou Xuan Yi.

Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand too went down 2-21 11-21 to fourth seeded Liu Sheng Shu and Tan Ning in women's doubles opener to dash their faint Paris Olympics qualification hopes.

Prannoy vs Lu ========== It was the fourth battle between Prannoy and Lu