India’s women shone at the Australian Open Super 500 badminton tournament on Wednesday, with PV Sindhu leading the charge and teenager Tanvi Sharma registering a notable win to reach the second round.Sindhu, Tanvi Sharma, Malvika Bansod, Isharani Baruah and Tanya Hemanth all advanced to the women’s singles round of 16. However, it was a disappointing day for the Indian men’s singles players as Kiran George, Tharun Mannepalli and qualifier Saneeth Dayanand exited in the opening round.Third seed Sindhu made a comfortable start to her campaign, beating Peru’s Ines Lucia Castillo Salazar 21-13, 21-11 in 32 minutes.The two-time Olympic medallist controlled the match throughout and did not allow her opponent to build any momentum.Sindhu will next face fellow Indian Isharani Baruah, who defeated China’s Han Qian Xi 22-20, 10-21, 21-14 in a match lasting one hour and three minutes.The standout result for India came from 17-year-old Tanvi Sharma. The world No. 36 defeated fifth seed and world No. 11 Chiu Pin-Chian of Chinese Taipei 21-12, 22-20 in 45 minutes.Tanvi will now face Malvika Bansod in the round of 16. Malvika recovered after losing the opening game to beat Thailand’s Tonrug Saeheng 15-21, 21-7, 21-13.Tanya Hemanth also moved into the next round after defeating USA’s Ishika Jaiswal 21-17, 21-18 in 39 minutes.She will next face Thailand’s second seed and world No. 8 Pornpawee Chochuwong.Indian men bow outIn men’s singles, Kiran George lost 19-21, 21-14, 15-21 to Malaysia’s Justin Hoh in a contest that lasted one hour and two minutes.Qualifier Saneeth Dayanand was beaten by China’s Hu Zhe’an 8-21, 10-21 in 35 minutes.Tharun Mannepalli came close to upsetting second seed and world No. 10 Lin Chun-Yi of Chinese Taipei before losing 21-18, 13-21, 23-25 in a match lasting one hour and 20 minutes.After winning the first game, Tharun fought back in the decider and earned match points, but Lin held on to seal victory.Dhruv-Manisha move aheadIn mixed doubles, Dhruv Rawat and Maneesha K progressed to the second round with a 21-13, 21-14 win over Australia’s Lim Jayden and Victoria Tjonadi in 27 minutes.Mohit Jaglan and Lakshita Jaglan, however, lost to second-seeded Chinese pair Guo Xin Wa and Chen Fang Hui 6-21, 5-21 in 20 minutes.
