Key Points

Ranked 21st in the world, Sindhu edged past long-time rival and Olympic bronze medallist Nozomi Okuhara of Japan with a 22-20, 21-23, 21-15 victory in a match that lasted an hour and 19 minutes.

The first game saw both players exchange leads before Sindhu saved a game point and closed it out to gain the upper hand. Okuhara responded in the second, fending off two match points to force a decider but in the final game, Sindhu raised her intensity, pulling away as Okuhara struggled to match her pace.

This marks Sindhu's 11th win in 20 encounters against the former world No. 1 from Japan.

However, it was a disappointing outing for Sindhu's compatriots in the women's singles draw. Malvika Bansod, Anupama Upadhaya, and Rakshita Ramraj all exited. Bansod, despite winning the opening game, had to retire due to an injury, while Anupama and Rakshita suffered defeats in two and three games, respectively.

In men's singles, Lakshya Sen put up a valiant fight before going down 21-11, 20-22, 21-15 to world No. 2 Shi Yuqi of China. After a one-sided first game, Sen staged a brilliant comeback from 10-3 down to level the match. He even led 5-2 early in the decider, but couldn't sustain the momentum and eventually fell short after 65 minutes.

Veteran shuttler HS Prannoy also bowed out in the opening round, losing 21-17, 21-18 to world No. 29 Alwi Farhan of Indonesia.

In brighter news for Indian badminton, the men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty progressed to the second round. The top Indian duo came from behind to beat Indonesia's Leo Rolly Carnando and Bagas Maulana 18-21, 21-18, 21-14.

After trailing 10-5 in the second game, Satwik and Chirag fought back strongly to force a decider. However, they pulled away convincingly post the break, conceding only four more points to seal the win.

- ANI