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Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu and rising Indian shuttler Tanvi Sharma advanced to the second round of the women's singles competition at the Australian Open Badminton Championships 2026 in Sydney on Wednesday.
World No. 10 Sindhu needed just 32 minutes to dispatch Ines Castillo of Peru 21-13, 21-11 in her opening-round match at the BWF Super 500 event, as per Olympics.com. The Indian star will next face compatriot Isharani Baruah in the pre-quarterfinals. Ranked 39th in the world, Isharani secured her place in the second round after battling past China's Han Qianxi 22-20, 10-21, 21-14 in a hard-fought three-game encounter. It will be the first head-to-head meeting between the two Indian badminton players. Tanvi Sharma, who clinched a silver medal at last year's BWF World Junior Championships, showed encouraging signs of a return to form with a 21-12, 22-20 victory over world No. 11 Chiu Pin-Chian of Chinese Taipei. The world No. 36, who broke into the top 50 from outside the top 100 last year following a string of strong performances, has struggled for consistency this season, progressing beyond the first round only twice in eight BWF tournaments so far. In the second round on Thursday, Tanvi will face compatriot Malvika Bansod, who defeated Thailand's Tonrug Saeheng 15-21, 21-7, 21-13 to book her place in the last 16. Meanwhile, India's challenge in the men's singles ended in the first round following defeats for Kiran George, Saneeth Dayanand and Tharun Mannepalli. Australian Badminton Open 2026: India squad: Men's singles: HS Prannoy, Ayush Shetty, Kiran George, Tharun Mannepalli, Saneeth Dayanand (Q), Manraj Singh (Q) Men's doubles: MR Arjun-Hariharan Amsakarunan, Achutaditya Rao Doddavarapu-Arjun Reddy Pochana. Women's singles: PV Sindhu, Tanvi Sharma. Malvika Bansod, Isharani Baruah, Anmol Kharb, Aakarshi Kashyap, Tanya Hemnath, Imad Farooqui Samiya (Q)Mixed doubles: Dhruv Kapila-Tanisha Crasto, Dhruv Rawat-Manisha Keer, Mohit Jaglan-Lakshita Jaglan. (ANI)
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