Sindhu battles past Hooda, Shetty upsets world No. 11 Farhan
Indian badminton players P.V. Sindhu and Ayush Shetty advanced to the next round of the China Open after hard-fought victories. Shetty notably upset world No. 11 Alwi Farhan, while Sindhu overcame a challenge from compatriot Unnati Hooda.
Why it matters
These results highlight the competitive performance of Indian athletes in international badminton tournaments.
Ayush Shetty produced a stunning upset by knocking out world No. 11 Alwi Farhan while double Olympic medallist P.V. Sindhu overcame a spirited challenge from teenage compatriot Unnati Hooda to progress to the second round of the China Open here on Wednesday.
India No 1 Lakshya Sen also advanced, defeating Japan's world No. 19 Yushi Tanaka 22-20, 15-21, 21-14 in a hard-fought 53-minute in the men's singles.
The World No. 14 Indian will next face eighth seed Victor Lai of Canada, who is ranked world No. 8 in the pre-quarters.
Sindhu, who ended a two-year title drought by winning the Japan Open last week, had to dig deep before overcoming 18-year-old compatriot Unnati 21-14, 9-21, 21-10 in a hard-fought 56-minute women's singles opening-round clash.
The former world champion was tested early as Unnati matched her point for point until 7-7 in the opening game.
Get smarter about the news
Sign up free for a feed built around what you actually care about, Dive Deeper research on any story, and the full text of every article.
Create free accountAlready have an account? Sign in