Badminton World Championships: Sindhu, Prannoy make winning start

Paris: Star Indian shuttlers PV Sindhu and HS Prannoy advanced to the second round of women's and men's singles competitions respectively with straight-game wins at the BWF World Championships here on Tuesday.

Sindhu, a former champion, looked nervy at the start but slowly stepped up the pace and sharpened her attack to outwit world number 69 Bulgaria's Kaloyana Nalbantova 23-21 21-6.

The 2023 bronze winner, Prannoy, who has slipped to world number 34, then prevailed 21-18 21-15 over Finland's world no. 47 Joakim Oldorff in a 47-minute battle.

Sindhu will next meet Thailand's Karupathevan Letshanaa, while Prannoy is likely to take on second seed Anders Antonsen.

Sindhu, a two-time Olympic medallist, looked nervy at the start to fall 0-4 behind due to a series of miscued shots early on.

From 6-2, Nalbantova gave away few freebies as Sindhu narrowed it to 5-7.

The Bulgarian kept the pressure on the Indian to move to 9-5. A well-placed shot followed by another precise return saw Nalbantova grab a 11-7 advantage at the break.

After the break, world number 15 Sindhu unleashed a series of smashes, including her trademark cross-court returns, to claw back at 12-12. With the Bulgarian finding the net twice, Sindhu took a 14-12 lead.

The Indian's deep clears sailed out thrice as it was 15-15. Nalbantova moved to 19-17 after Sindhu's net shot tumbled inside after kissing the net.

After Sindhu levelled things with a fine net shot, she went long again as the Bulgarian had a game point but Nalbantova sprayed into the net as it was 20-20.

A forehand slice went to net as the Bulgarian grabbed a second game before not only squandering it again but handing her fancied opponent the game point once more. Sindhu sealed it this time.

Sindhu came out all guns blazing after the change of ends, surging to 5-1 lead with some aggressive returns. Nalbantova recovered to 5-6 but was erratic. Sindhu stepped up the pace with her cross-court attacks and led by six points at the break.

It was a one-way traffic as Sindhu quickly jumped to 17-5 with her opponent making a lot of errors, including judgement calls at the backline.

Sindhu grabbed 15 match points, squandered one before sealing it with a smash.

Prannoy vs Oldorff

Prannoy fell behind a bit early on but found his range soon to turn the tables at 8-7 with his round-the-head cross-court smashes.

The Indian controlled the rallies, making his opponent twist and turn to set up the points and finishing with his smashes. Prannoy moved to 10-8 with a forehand cross before taking a two-point lead with a straight smash.

The duo engaged in some energy-sapping rallies thereafter as Oldorff clawed back at 16-16.

But Prannoy always had his repertoire of strokes to fall back on and a razor-sharp smash followed by his opponent's two unforced errors gave the Indian three game points.

Prannoy squandered one before Oldorff sprayed one wide.

After the change of ends, the Indian led 7-4. Prannoy didn't want to rush things. He used his block, lift, made his opponent run and waited for his chances. The result was he had a three-point cushion at the break.

Prannoy continued to dominate the rallies with his opponent faltering. Soon, he led 17-11. Another around-the-head smash took him to 19-13. He grabbed five points and converted after Oldorff sailed long.