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PV Sindhu advances at China Open after tough victory over Unnati Hooda. Ayush Shetty upsets world No. 11 Alwi Farhan.
PV Sindhu beat Unnati Hooda in a three-game thriller (Picture credit: Badminton Photo)
Double Olympic medallist PV Sindhu battled past teenage compatriot Unnati Hooda to reach the second round, while Ayush Shetty pulled off a brilliant upset by beating world No. 11 Alwi Farhan in the opening round of the China Open on Wednesday.
Sindhu, who ended a two-year title drought by lifting the Japan Open crown last week, was pushed all the way by 18-year-old compatriot Unnati Hooda before sealing a 21-14, 9-21, 21-10 win in a hard-fought 56-minute women’s singles opening-round contest.
The former world champion was tested early as Unnati matched her point for point until 7-all in the opening game.
Sindhu then found her rhythm, reeling off five successive points to open up a 12-8 lead before taking the game 21-14.
The second game belonged to the youngster.
After the scores were level at 2-all, Unnati surged to a 6-3 lead and then rattled off six straight points to race to 12-4.
Sindhu struggled to find her range as Unnati maintained complete control to force a decider with a dominant 21-9 victory.
Sindhu, however, produced a champion’s response in the decider, taking control after a closely fought start. She extended her lead from 6-3 to 10-5 and then 15-8 before closing out the game 21-10 to book her place in the next round of the BWF Super 1000 tournament.
In the round of 16, Sindhu will face fourth seed and local favourite Chen Yufei, whom she beat in straight games in the Japan Open semifinals last week.
Chen holds a narrow 8-7 head-to-head advantage over Sindhu.
In the men’s singles, Ayush Shetty produced one of the biggest upsets of the opening round, rallying to defeat Indonesia’s world No. 11 and former world junior champion Alwi Farhan 17-21, 21-5, 21-17 in a gripping 57-minute encounter.
After winning the first game 21-17, Ayush dropped the second a bizarre 5-21, but made a commendable comeback to win the decider 21-17 and complete a memorable win.
In the men’s doubles, Hariharan Amsakarunan and M.R. Arjun were outclassed by China’s Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang, losing 16-21, 7-21 in under 30 minutes.
India’s mixed doubles pair of Rohan Kapoor and Gadde Ruthvika Shivani bowed out after a 9-21, 16-21 loss to top seeds Feng Yan Zhe and Huang Dong Ping of China in 37 minutes.
Meanwhile, Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto exited the tournament as well, losing 18-21, 18-21 to the fifth-seeded Chinese duo of Guo Xin Wa and Chen Fang Hui in a 41-minute contest.
(With PTI Inputs)
The next major tournament for Indian players is the China Open 2026. PV Sindhu, Unnati Hooda, Ayush Shetty, Lakshya Sen, and HS Prannoy are participating. Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty are out due to injury.
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