Two-time Olympic medalist and Indian shuttler PV Sindhu moved into the pre-quarters stage of the ongoing All England Open Championships being held in Birmingham on Tuesday. Sindhu was playing her first-round match when her opponent Yvonne Li from Germany retired in the first game itself. Sindhu was leading 21-10 and won the match by walkover.
“Sindhu moves into pre-quarters as Yvonne Li retired after the first game. We wish her a speedy recovery: @badmintonphoto #AllEngland2024 #IndiaontheRise #Badminton,” tweeted the Badminton Association of India (BAI) Media.
The World Championships bronze medalist HS Prannoy crashed out of the competition in the first round, losing to Su Li Yang of Chinese Taipei. Prannoy lost the 37-minute game by 21-14, 13-21, 13-21. (PV Sindhu: From Skipping Sister's Wedding For Badminton To Traveling 100kms For Training; Know Interesting Facts About Indian Shuttler – In Pics)
“Tough one champ, bounce back stronger. : @badmintonphoto #AllEngland2024 #IndiaontheRise #Badminton,” tweeted BAI Media.
Aakarshi Kashyap, another women's singles player, crashed out in the first round after a loss to Chinese Taipei's Pai Yu To by 21-16, 21-11 in two straight games.
“Setbacks are just launchpads for comebacks. Your time will come Aakarshi, keep it up! @badmintonphoto #AllEngland2024 #IndiaontheRise #Badminton,” tweeted BAI.
The All England Open tournament is a Badminton World Federation World 1000 event and the most prestigious tournament of the entire BWF World Tour calendar. Only two Indian players have previously captured some gold at the event, Padukone (1980 men's singles) and Pullela Gopichand (2001 men's singles), as per Olympics.com.
The tournament, ending on March 17, will be offering qualifying ranking points for the Paris 2024 Olympics. The qualification window started on May 1.
-All England Open 2024 badminton: India squad
Men's singles: Kidambi Srikanth, Lakshya Sen, HS Prannoy, Priyanshu Rajawat
Women's singles: PV Sindhu, Aakarshi Kashyap
Men's doubles: Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty
Women's doubles: Tanisha Crasto and Ashwini Ponnappa, Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand, Rutaparna Panda and Swetaparna Panda.
