<p>Olympic medallists PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal fought off strong challenge from their opponents before winning their respective opening matches, but it was curtains for Lakshya Sen and B Sai Praneeth in Badminton Asia Championships here on Wednesday.</p>.<p>Two-time Olympic medallist Sindhu was made to toil hard by Chinese Taipei's Pai Yu Po as the fourth seeded Indian came back from a game down to win 18-21 27-25 21-9 in a marathon women's singles opening round match, which lasted for one hour and 17 minutes.</p>.<p>London Olympics bronze medallist Saina, who has been on a comeback trail after recovering from some nagging injuries, also had to break her sweat to eke out a 21-15 17-21 21-13 win over Sim Yujin of South Korea.</p>.<p>While Sindhu will next play Singapore's Yue Yann Jaslyn Hooi, Saina will be up against China's Zhi Yi Wang.</p>.<p>The other remaining Indian in the women's singles, Malvika Bansod too squandered a game lead before going down 9-21 21-17 26-24 against Yeo Jia Min of Singapore in another hard-fought tie.</p>.<p>It turned out to be a disappointing outing for world championships bronze medal winner Sen, who was stunned by the unseeded Li Shi Feng of China.</p>.<p>The fifth seeded Indian lost 21-12 10-21 19-21 in his opening round men's singles tie that lasted 56 minutes.</p>.<p>World No. 19 Sai Praneeth suffered a straight game 17-21 13-21 defeat against Jonatan Christie of Indonesia.</p>.<p>Seventh seeded Kidambi Srikanth, however, kept India's flag flying in the men's singles competition by progressing to the second round with a straight-game win over Tze Yong Ng of Malaysia.</p>.<p>Srikanth defeated his rival 22-20 21-15 to set up a clash against Chinese qualifier Weng Hong Yang in the second round.</p>.<p>It was also the end of the road for Aakarshi Kashyap, who lost 15-21 9-21 to Japanese top seed Akane Yamaguchi in the women's singles.</p>.<p>Both the women's doubles pair of Ashwini Bhat K and Shikga Gautam, and Simran Singhi and Ritika Thaker also made opening round exits after losing in straight games.</p>.<p>While Bhat and Gautam went down 19-21 12-21 to Anna Ching Yik Cheong and Teoh Mei Xing of Malaysia, Singhi and Thaker lost 15-21 11-21 to seventh seeded Malaysian pair of Pearly Tan and Muralitharan Thinaah.</p>.<p><strong>Watch latest videos by DH here:</strong></p>
<p>Olympic medallists PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal fought off strong challenge from their opponents before winning their respective opening matches, but it was curtains for Lakshya Sen and B Sai Praneeth in Badminton Asia Championships here on Wednesday.</p>.<p>Two-time Olympic medallist Sindhu was made to toil hard by Chinese Taipei's Pai Yu Po as the fourth seeded Indian came back from a game down to win 18-21 27-25 21-9 in a marathon women's singles opening round match, which lasted for one hour and 17 minutes.</p>.<p>London Olympics bronze medallist Saina, who has been on a comeback trail after recovering from some nagging injuries, also had to break her sweat to eke out a 21-15 17-21 21-13 win over Sim Yujin of South Korea.</p>.<p>While Sindhu will next play Singapore's Yue Yann Jaslyn Hooi, Saina will be up against China's Zhi Yi Wang.</p>.<p>The other remaining Indian in the women's singles, Malvika Bansod too squandered a game lead before going down 9-21 21-17 26-24 against Yeo Jia Min of Singapore in another hard-fought tie.</p>.<p>It turned out to be a disappointing outing for world championships bronze medal winner Sen, who was stunned by the unseeded Li Shi Feng of China.</p>.<p>The fifth seeded Indian lost 21-12 10-21 19-21 in his opening round men's singles tie that lasted 56 minutes.</p>.<p>World No. 19 Sai Praneeth suffered a straight game 17-21 13-21 defeat against Jonatan Christie of Indonesia.</p>.<p>Seventh seeded Kidambi Srikanth, however, kept India's flag flying in the men's singles competition by progressing to the second round with a straight-game win over Tze Yong Ng of Malaysia.</p>.<p>Srikanth defeated his rival 22-20 21-15 to set up a clash against Chinese qualifier Weng Hong Yang in the second round.</p>.<p>It was also the end of the road for Aakarshi Kashyap, who lost 15-21 9-21 to Japanese top seed Akane Yamaguchi in the women's singles.</p>.<p>Both the women's doubles pair of Ashwini Bhat K and Shikga Gautam, and Simran Singhi and Ritika Thaker also made opening round exits after losing in straight games.</p>.<p>While Bhat and Gautam went down 19-21 12-21 to Anna Ching Yik Cheong and Teoh Mei Xing of Malaysia, Singhi and Thaker lost 15-21 11-21 to seventh seeded Malaysian pair of Pearly Tan and Muralitharan Thinaah.</p>.<p><strong>Watch latest videos by DH here:</strong></p>