New Delhi, Jan 14 (IANS) Former champion Kidambi Srikanth and the experienced H.S. Prannoy turned the tables on their younger opponents to advance to the men’s singles second round while 16-year-old Tanvi Sharma displayed her potential with a gutsy performance against second seed Wang Zhi Yi of China in the women’s singles first round at the India Open 2026 in New Delhi on Wednesday.

The 32-year-old Srikanth found his way back after an indifferent opening game to defeat compatriot Tharun M 15-21, 21-6, 21-19 while 33-year-old Prannoy defeated last edition runners-up Lee Cheuk Yiu of Hong Kong 22-20, 21-18 in the men’s singles opening round of the BWF World Tour Super 750 event, being organised by the Badminton Association of India, at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium,

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 women’s singles first round.

World junior championships silver medallist Tanvi Sharma had her chances against second seed Wang 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.

SINDHU KNOCKED OUT

Former World Champion PV Sindhu was also knocked out of the competition after she went down 20-22, 21-12, 21-15 against Thuy Linh Nguyen of Vietnam in an opening round clash in the first session on Wednesday.

But the day belonged to Prannoy and Srikanth, the two experienced campaigners who are looking to make a comeback on the BWF World Tour after a difficult 2025. Prannoy, who had struggled with fitness for the most part of 2025, had gotten an entry in the India Open 2026 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-setting up a second round clash against former world champion and eighth seed Loh Kean Yew of Singapore, who defeated China’s Wang Zheng Xing of China 23-21, 19-21, 21-14.

“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.

Srikanth, who last played a Super 750 event in Singapore in May 2025, struggled with his rhythm initially against Tharun, losing the opening game. But he dominated the second game to force a decider, where his experience made the difference between winning and losing.

The former World No. 1 trailed his younger compatriot for most of the decider, and it felt like curtains for his India Open challenge as Tharun took a 19-17 lead. However, Srikanth controlled the net brilliantly and made his opponent work hard for every point, forcing an error, to clinch four straight points and the match in 53 minutes.

“It was a tough game and could have gone either way as one or two points here, and there would have made a big difference,” said Srikanth, who will now face BWF World Tour Finals winner Christo Popov of France in the second round.

Earlier, Tanvi showed why she is touted to be the future star of Indian badminton as she took the fight to Wang in her first BWF Super 750 event. The 16-year-old, whose entry in the tournament was only confirmed on the eve of the event, had a game point against Wang in the opening game but hit the down-the-line smash wide to lose that game.

She then used her late flicks and neck deception to good effect to bag the second game and force a decider. However, the Indian looked tired in the decider and was unable to match the speed of her opponent in long rallies, ultimately losing.

Important results:

Men’s singles: 2-Kunlavut Vitidsarn (Tha) bt Koki Watanabe (Jpn) 21-19, 23-25, 21-10; 5-Christo Popov (Fra) bt Wang Tzu Wei (Tpe) 13-21, 21-18, 21-19; K Srikanth bt Tharun M 15-21, 21-6, 21-19; 3-Jonatan Christie (Ina) bt Jia Heng Jason Teh (Sin) 21-16, 21-10; 8-Loh Kean Yew (Sin) bt Wang Zheng Xing (Chn) 23-21, 19-21, 21-14; HS Prannoy bt Lee Cheuk Yiu (HKG) 22-20, 21-18

Women’s singles: 2-Wang Zhi Yi (Chn) bt Tanvi Sharma 22-20, 18-21, 21-13; Thuy Linh Nguyen (Vie) bt PV Sindhu 20-22, 21-12, 21-15; 1-AN Se Young (Kor) bt Nozomi Okuhara (Jpn) 21-17, 21-9; Malvika Bansod bt Pai Yu Po (Tpe) 21-18, 21-19; 5-Han Yue (Chn) bt Sung Shuo Yun (Tpe) 18-21, 21-13, 21-17

Women’s doubles: Nanako Hara/Riko Kiyose (Jpn) bt Rutuparna Panda/Swetaparna Panda 21-8, 21-18; Ha Na Baek/So Hee Lee (Kor) bt Gayatri Rawat/Mansa Rawat 21-5, 21-8

Mixed Doubles: Pakkapol Teeraratsakul/Sapsiree Taerattanachai (Tha) bt Dhruv Kapila/Tanisha Crasto 21-15, 21-14; Marvin Seidel/Thuc Phuong Nguyen (Ger) bt Rohan Kapoor/Ruthvika Shivani Gadde 21-19, 21-14; Tyuichi Shimogami/ Sayaka Hobara (JPN) bt Ashith Surya/Amrutha Pramuthesh 21-15, 21-7

–IANS

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