Asia Championships: Sindhu avoids meltdown as Sen bows out

Ningbo (China), April 10

Double Olympics medallist PV Sindhu survived some tense moments before progressing to the women’s singles second round but it was curtains for Lakshya Sen and Kidambi Srikanth in the men’s singles at the Badminton Asia Championships here today.

Sindhu, who is seeking to rediscover her form ahead of the Paris Olympics, almost blew away a five-point advantage in the decider before managing a gritty 18-21 21-14 21-19 win against world No. 33 Goh Jin Wei of Malaysia.

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

The Indians didn’t have a desirable start as the talented Priyanshu Rajawat also crashed out in the opening round, losing 9-21 13-21 in 39 minutes to eighth seed Lee Zii Jia of Malaysia.

It was also curtains for the Panda sisters — Rutaparna and Swetaparna — in the opening round of women’s doubles, losing 8-21 13-21 against seventh seeds Zhang Shu Xian and Zheng Yu W of China. MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila lost 21-23 21-19 24-26 against the seventh-seeded Chinese pair of Liu Yu Chen and Ou Xuan Yi.