PV Sindhu, Srikanth Kidambi, Tressa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand were among Indians who progressed into the second round as the round of 32 action continued at the Badminton Asia Championships in Dubai on Wednesday.

Also progressing from the opening round were HS Prannoy and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty.

Sindhu had to fight hard in both the games, but a superb run of points at the end of the opening game and start of the opening game saw her defeat Chinese Taipei’s Wen Chi Hsu 21-15, 22-20 in a 46-minute battle. In the opening game, Sindhu trailed 11-14 but put together a run of nine straight points. And at the start of the second game, she raced ahead 6-1. Eventually, a late fightback was seen off by the 2022 edition’s bronze medallist. Sindhu’s reward is another tough battle against Han Yue, the world No 9 in the next round.

Earlier in the day though, there was heartbreak for Lakshya Sen as he was defeated by former world champion Loh Kean Yew in straight games. The Indian started the match poorly and was blown away in the opening game, losing it 7-21. But the second game was the kind of contest one would expect from players of this quality. Loh eventually saved two game points and converted his first match point to win 21-7, 23-21. Loh has closed the head-to-head gap to 3-4 and now all matches between the two have been completed in straight games.

One of the day’s best performances came from Treesa and Gayatri who fought back from a game down against Indonesia’s Lanny Tria Mayasari and Ribka Sugiarto 17-21, 21-17, 21-18 in a battle lasting more than an hour. Mayasari/Sugiarto, who had reached the semifinals of the Orleans Masters recently, took the lead against the All England semifinalists from India. All three games were closely fought, and played at a furious pace unlike the contests we see in women’s doubles typically.

Srikanth, in a winnable opening round fixture, took just 25 minutes to see off his first-round opponent Adnan Ebrahim 21-13 21-8. But it is going to be a big test for the 2021 Worlds silver medallist against the world No 5 Kodai Naraoka next.

Another impressive result in the day was right at the start Rohan Kapoor and Sikki Reddy defeating Malaysia’s Chan Peng Soon and Cheah Yee See in straight-games.

Apart from winning performances, another notable result was Malvika Bansod’s heartbreaking defeat against world No 1 Akane Yamaguchi. The Indian saved a massive seven game points in the opener and also went the distance in the second, before bowing out 23-25, 19-21.

Satwik-Chirag were off to somewhat of a slow start but powered through the opening game from 1-5 down to win the match 21-14 21-17 agains Malaysia’s Tan Wee Kiong and Tan Kian Meng. The CWG 2022 men’s doubles gold medallists will next take on Na Sung Seung and Jin Yong of South Korea for their first meeting.

Prannoy didn’t need to break too much of a sweat as he took on world No 277 Myanmar’s Phone Pyae Naing. The India No 1 in men’s singles won 21-14 21-9. He next takes on Indonesia’s world No 18 Chico Aura Dwi Wardoyo.

A significant development elsewhere on Wednesday in Dubai was top seed Jonatan Christie pulling out due to a reported blood infection. Later in the day, defending champions Lee Zii Jia was also knocked out.

India’s results on Wednesday:

Men’s Singles: Lakshya Sen vs Loh Kean Yew (Singapore) 7-21, 21-23, Srikanth Kidambi vs Adnan Ebrahim 21-13 21-8, HS Prannoy vs Phone Pyae Naing 21-14 21-9

Men’s Doubles: Krishna Prasad Garaga and Vishnuvardhan Goud Panjala vs Takuro Hoki and Yuko Kobayashi (Japan) 15-21, 17-21; PS Ravikrishna and Sankar Prasad Udayakumar vs Man Wei Chong and Kai Wun Tee (Malaysia) 12-21, 17-21, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty vs Tan Wee Kiong and Tan Kian Meng 21-14 21-17

Women Singles: Malvika Bansod vs Akane Yamaguchi (Japan) 23-25, 19-21; Akarshi Kashyap vs Komang Ayu Cahya Dewi (Indonesia) 6-21, 12-21, PV Sindhu vs Wen Chi Hsu 21-15, 22-20 

Women Doubles: Ashwini Bhat and Shikha Gautam vs Meilysa Trias Puspitasari and Rachel Allessya Rose (Indonesia) 20-22, 12-21, 18-21; Haritha Manazhiyil and Ashna Roy vs Jongkolphan Kititharakul and Rawinda Prajongjai (Thailand) 11-21, 2-21, Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand vs Lanny Tria Mayasari and Ribka Sugiarto 17-21, 21-17, 21-18

Mixed Doubles: Rohan Kapoor and Sikki Reddy vs Chan Peng Soon and Cheah Yee See (Malaysia) 21-12, 21-16.

Full results of the matches on Wednesday here.

More details on India’s matches here in this Twitter thread.