This was Sindhu’s first match since she suffered a stress fracture in her left ankle while competing in the Commonwealth Games in August.
In the past, world No. 8 Prannoy came from behind to defeat Lakshya Sen, ranked 10th, in an intense first-round match that lasted just over an hour, proving that he is India’s best-ranked men’s singles player. Prannoy won 22-24, 21-12, and 21-18.
The next opponent for the 30-year-old Keralan will be Chico Aura Dwi Wardoyo of Indonesia.
By defeating the Korean duo of Choi Sol Gyu and Kim Won Ho, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty also made it to the pre-quarterfinals. They did this by winning 21-16, 21-13.
The global no. The Indonesian duo of Muhammad Shohibul Fikri and Bagas Maulana will compete against the 5 pair. Malvika Bansod, on the other hand, fell to second-seeded Korean An Se Young, who defeated her 9-21, 13-21.
Ashwini Bhat and Shikha Gautam’s women’s doubles team lost to Supissara Paewsampran and Puttita Supajirakul of Thailand 10-21, 12-21. Sindhu and Marin faced off in the match, Sindhu having a head-to-head record of 5-9 against Marin, who had a difficult few years due to an ACL injury to both of her knees.
The Indian got off to a slow start and had trouble finishing, which allowed the aggressive Marin to take an 11-3 lead at halftime. With precise returns, the Spaniard increased his lead to eight game points and converted at every opportunity.
Sindhu returned the favor in the second game, taking an enormous seven-point lead at halftime. The Indian played well after her strokes, hitting some great shots and appearing more polished at the net as she scored 10 game points against the Spaniard, who kept going to the net.
Sindhu won it after Marin once more struggled with her net play. Marin once more found her touch in the decider, keeping Sindhu at bay with cross-court returns, punch clears, and body smashes. After Sindhu went wide, the Spaniard led by four points going into the break.
After a long shot, Sindhu dropped to 8-14 when play resumed, and Marin delivered another body smash. As she hit, Sindhu was unable to negotiate Marin’s swift returns, allowing the Spaniard to reach 19-13.
Marin won six match points after Sindhu played into the net, lost one due to a service error, and forced her opponent out of position with a body return to win the match.
Sen held a 3-2 head-to-head advantage over Prannoy in the previous year’s men’s singles match.
The duo engaged in ferocious competition right from the start, proving that the match lived up to its billing. They played quickly, and Prannoy took a two-point lead at the break. However, Sen quickly drew level at 13-13.
The two of them were locked at 19-19 at one point after a few disputable line calls. After that, Sen got a game point but wasted it. Soon, at 21-20 and 22-21, Prannoy scored two game points, but he also missed, and Sen eventually got ahead after scoring another game point.
Sen made a number of unforced errors in the second game, which Prannoy won 4-1. The Almora shuttler tried to be aggressive and make sharp angles, but his senior partner was always ahead of him.
Prannoy rushed to a nine-game point advantage while Sen was struggling. Sen saved one before the Kerala shuttler smashed through it and roared back into the match.
Sen took an 8-4 lead in the decider, but Prannoy overcame the deficit and clawed back at 9-9 with a flurry of smashes to take a slim lead into the break after dominating a parallel game.
Prannoy took a three-point lead with better placements and sharp strokeplay after the final end change. Sen’s attempt to attack the lines backfired, and Prannoy won 18-14.
Even though Sen clearly appeared dissatisfied with the line call and flung his racquet in anger, Prannoy sealed the victory with a second backhand block that kissed the line after earning three match points from a push on the backline.
