- By Gurmeet Batra
- Wed, 10 Sep 2025 06:53 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
Hong Kong Open 2025: India's badminton contingent had a mixed day at the Hong Kong Open Super 500 as two-time Olympic PV Sindhu experienced a setback in the first round against Denmark's Line Christophersen, while HS Prannoy and Lakshya Sen earned hard-fought wins to advance.
Sindhu faced an upset by unseeded Danish shuttler Line Christophersen in the women's singles round of 32 with a scoreline of 21-15, 16-21, 19-21, in a closely contested encounter.
The 34th-ranked in the world, Prannoy registered a 21-17, 21-14 win over Lu Guang Zu of China in 44 minutes, while Sen too got his campaign going with a gruelling 22-20, 16-21, 21-15 win to secure a place in the men's singles pre-quarterfinals.
Kiran George also booked a place in the men's singles last-16, getting the better of Singapore's higher-ranked Jia Heng Jason Teh 21-16, 21-11 in 34 minutes.
For Sindhu, this was her first defeat to the 25-year-old Christophersen in six outings, arriving at a time when the star Indian star was starting to reawaken her form after early departures at the Swiss Open and Japan Open earlier this year.
In the first game, Sindhu took an early 3-1 lead before her rival equalised 5-all. Ruling 14-13, Sindhu showed her vintage form, allowing Christophersen just one point before taking the opener.
The second game saw the Indian leading 13-12 before errors cropped up in her game as she gave away five points on the trot.
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The decider was a strategic manoeuvring with both players going neck and neck till 19-all before two decisive points for Christophersen ended Sindhu's journey.
The women's doubles pair of Rutaparna Panda and Swetaparna Panda won their round-of-32 match against Hong Kong's Oi Ki Vanessa Pang and Sum Yau Wong 17-21, 9-21 in just 28 minutes.
