Indian shuttlers PV Sindhu and HS Prannoy began their 2025 BWF World Championships campaign with wins on the second day in Paris on Tuesday.
Two time Olympics and five time World Championship medallist PV Sindhu overcame a sluggish start to beat Bulgaria’s Kaloyana Nalbantova 23-21, 21-6 in 39 minutes.
Sindhu survived a scare in a tightly contested opening game where she saved two game points to progress to women’s singles’ second round.
After winning the first game, Sindhu found her rhythm and dominated the remaining match. She played with much more confidence and control, easily winning it 21-6.
She will now take on world no. 40 Letshanaa Karupathevan of Malaysia.
Meanwhile, HS Prannoy defeated Finland’s Joakim Oldorff 21-18, 21-15 in straight games in a 47-minute match.
The opening game was a close affair with both players tied at 17-all, but Prannoy used his experience and managed to seal the opening game 21-19. The second game was a much smoother affair for the Indian but Oldoroff did show signs of a comeback when he recovered from 4-7 to tie the score at 8-all.
Prannoy will next face the winner of the match between Brazil’s Jonathan Matias and World No. 2 Anders Antonsen.
In the mixed doubles, the unseeded pair of Rohan Kapoor-Ruthvika Shivani recovered from a game down to beat Macau China’s Leong Lok Chong and NG Weng Chi beat 18-21, 21-16, 21-18 in 47 minutes.
Earlier in the tournament, Lakshya Sen bowed out in the opening round after losing to top seed Shi Yuqi of China in men’s singles.
