Top seeds PV Sindhu and Lakshya Sen advanced to the second round of the women's and men's singles respectively at the Syed Modi International Super 300 badminton tournament after registering straight-game victories in Lucknow on Wednesday.
Two-time Olympic medallist Sindhu defeated rising shuttler Anmol Kharb 21-17, 21-15, while Lakshya, 2021 world championships bronze medallist, powered past Malaysian qualifier Sholeh Aidil 21-12, 21-12 in another match.
Sindhu, who is returning to the tournament after a two-year hiatus, will face compatriot Ira Sharma, who triumphed over Deepshikha Singh 21-13, 21-19 in her opening match.
"I'm happy to be back here after two years. I couldn't play last year because of injury, but it feels great to be playing on home soil again," Sindhu said after her win.
"I was playing against Anmol for the first time, and she did well. We've played together in the Asian Team Championships before, so I was confident. It was my first match, and I made some mistakes, but overall I'm happy with my performance."
Lakshya will next face either Ravi or Israel's Daniil Dubovenko.
"It's always great to play in front of the home crowd. I've competed here in the past, but right now, I'm focusing on my next match. My goal is to do well in the BWF tournaments and at the World Championships," said Lakshya, the 2022 Commonwealth Games champion.
In the men's singles, third seed Kiran George, eighth seed Ayush Shetty, and Meiraba Luwang Maisnam also progressed to the second round.
In the women's singles, second seed Malvika Bansod, fifth seed Anupama Upadhyaya, Isharani Baruah, Devika Sihag, Unnati Hooda, Tasnim Mir and Shriyanshi Valishetty all advanced to the next stage.
Malvika defeated Wiktoria Dabczynska 21-16, 21-7, while Anupama overcame Azerbaijan's Keisha Fatimah Azzahra 19-21, 22-20, 21-15. Hooda, meanwhile, beat Thailand's Thamonwan Nithiittikrai 21-12, 21-16.
In the men's singles, Kiran George triumphed over Alap Mishra 21-12, 23-21; Ayush Shetty outlasted Raghu Mariswamy 21-18, 15-21, 21-16; and Meiraba Luwang Maisnam defeated Thailand's Saran Jamsri 14-21, 21-19, 21-10.
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