French Open: Prannoy exits, Sindhu and Srikanth advance to Round Two

A committed PV Sindhu defeated Michelle Li of Canada in three games on Wednesday at the French Open Super 750 badminton event to move to the second round of the women’s singles competition. Sindhu, a two-time Olympian, had fierce opposition from former world no. 8 Li, but she overcame it to win a thrilling first round match at the Arena Porte de la Chapelle, eking out a 20-22, 22-20, 21-19 victory.

With a thrilling victory over Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei, Kidambi Srikanth also advanced to the men’s singles second round, whereas HS Prannoy was unable to get beyond the first round. In a 66-minute first-round encounter, World No. 24 Srikanth defeated 14th-ranked Chen 21-15, 20-22, 21-8 to win his third match against the Taiwanese shuttler in seven meetings. Srikanth is in a race against time to qualify for the Olympics in Paris.

The silver medalist from the 2021 global championships, Srikanth, will square off against world No. 17 Lu Guang Zu of China in the next round. Prannoy’s campaign came to an end with a brilliant 21-17, 21-17 victory at the nearby court. It was Sindhu’s 10th victory against Li in 13 matches. Sindhu is participating in only her second competition after recovering from a knee injury she sustained in October of last year in the same event.