India Open: HS Prannoy reaches second round in stunning fashion, Tanvi Sharma heartbreakingly exits

Veteran India shuttler HS Prannoy moved into the second round of the India Open after a victory in straight games on Wednesday. He defeated last edition's runner-up Lee Cheuk Yiu of Hong Kong 22-20, 21-18 in the opening round of men's singles. Prannoy, who had struggled with fitness for the most part of 2025, had gotten entry to the tournament after the withdrawal of World No.3 Anders Antonsen of Denmark and made the most of his lucky break to beat Lee.

The world No.38 relied on his quick smashes and ability to stay in the rally long enough to frustrate the opponent as he saved two game points in the opening game and then packed enough punch in his down the line smashes to win in straight games. Prannoy has now set up a clash against former world champion and eighth seed Loh Kean Yew of Singapore.

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“Winning a round always feels nice and especially getting to play a Super 750 itself is something big for me. Today, when I got on the court, the one thing I was telling myself was that even if it goes his way, I shouldn’t be really worried about it. I should be enjoying what I’m doing and I think probably that helped really a lot,” Prannoy said after the match.

On the other hand, Malvika Bansod was the only other Indian to advance to the second round on Wednesday after the left handed shuttler defeated Pai Yu Po of Chinese Taipei 21-18, 21-19 in the first round of women's singles.

Tanvi exits after gruelling encounter

16-year-old Tanvi Sharma displayed her potential with a gutsy performance against second seed Wang Zhi Yi of China, but eventually exited the India Open in the first round itself. The World junior championships' silver medallist had her chances, but could not convert the game point in the opening game and then ran out of steam in the decider to go down 20-22, 21-18, 21-13 in an hour and nine minutes.

The results elsewhere

Meanwhile, Srikanth Kidambi defeated compatriot Tharun Mannepalli by 5-21, 21-6, 21-19 while PV Sindhu was knocked out in the opening round by Vietnam’s Thuy Linh Nguyen. After winning the first game, the two-time Olympic medallist lost momentum and eventually lost the match by 22-20, 12-21, 15-21.