PV Sindhu defeated Kayolana Nalbantova in the first round of the Badminton World Championships 2025 in straight games. Sindhu was under the pump in the first game as she faced two game points but managed to pull it off, before a cakewalk second game. Meanwhile, HS Prannoy also won his opener.
Indian ace shuttler PV Sindhu made a winning start to the Badminton World Championships as she defeated Bulgarian Kaloyana Nalbantova in straight games on Tuesday, August 26.ย
Sindhu, who has endured a lean run in 2025 with several first-round exits, survived two game points in the first game before winning the match 23-21, 21-6 at the Adidas arena in Paris.ย
The 15th-seeded Indian dealt with some nervy moments in the first game and made a slow start before recovering well. After trailing 3-7 in the opener, she bounced back to level things at 12-12 and then led briefly at 15-13.
However, the Bulgarian crawled her way back and earned a game point at 20-19 before another one on 21-20, but saw losing out on both of those. Sindhu earned her first game point at 22-21 and clinched the opening game after being put under the pump.
After taking the first game by a pretty close margin, Sindhu made things look so easy in the second one. She hardly gave any respite to her opponent and led 11-5 at the halfway interval. She kept cruising her way and earned 15 match points at 20-5 and lost only one to win the second game and match 21-6.
HS Prannoy beatsย Joakim Oldorff in first round
Meanwhile, India ace men’s tennis star HS Prannoy also won his first round match at the Championships with a straight games win over Finland’s World No. 47 Joakim Oldorff 21-18-21-15. Prannoy, who was having a difficult time with his fitness and form since the Olympics, was tested early in the match but made his way into the second round in a 47-minute clash.ย
Prannoy trailed 2-5 in the first game but crawled back to take the lead at the interval. He kept his lead intact to take the first game. Meanwhile, the Indian had taken a 4-1 lead in the second game and then kept his lead intact throughout the game to clinch it and move into the round of 32, where he could face World No.2 Anders Antonsen.
Meanwhile, Lakshya Sen had bowed out of the Championships after suffering an opening-round loss to World No.1 Shi Yuqi on Monday, August 25. Sen put up a valiant show, but fell short to the top seed 21-17, 21-19 in a clash that lasted for 54 minutes.
Sen was pitted in a tough draw at the Worlds with Yuqi up against him in the first round, with the likes of Kodai Naraoka, Loh Kean Yew, Li Shifeng, and Alex Lanier also slated in his half.ย