PV Sindhu and HS Prannoy led India’s comfortable win in the Group B opener of Badminton Asia Mixed Team Championship on Tuesday.

Indian shuttlers won all five of their matches in the tie in straight games.

The tournament returns after three years as the 2021 edition to be held in Wuhan was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. There are 17 countries that are participating in the event to be held from February 14 to 19 at the Dubai Exhibition Centre. China, Japan, Indonesia, and Malaysia are the top four seeds in the tournament.

Ishaan Bhatnagar and Tanisha Crasto started with a mixed doubles win, then Prannoy notched up a 24-minute win. Sindhu then took to the court to win in straight games too, as did Krishna Prasad Garaga and Vishnuvardhan Goud. The 5-0 win was sealed by Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand.

India take on UAE next on Wednesday, then the likely group decider against one of the favourites Malaysia, who were also off to a 5-0 winning start.

India squad Badminton Asia Mixed Team Championships :

Men’s Singles: Lakshya Sen & HS Prannoy

Women’s Singles: PV Sindhu & Aakarshi Kashyap

Men’s Doubles:  Dhruv Kapila / Chirag Shetty; Krishna Prasad Garga / Vishnuvardhan Goud Panjala

Women’s doubles: Treesa Jolly/Gayatri Gopichand, Ashwini Bhat/Shikha Gautam

Mixed Doubles: Ishaan Bhatnagar / Tanisha Crasto