Hangzhou: Star Indian shuttlers H S Prannoy and P V Sindhu progressed to the men's and women's singles pre-quarterfinals with straight-game wins over their respective opponents at the Asian Games here on Tuesday.
World no. 7 Prannoy, who missed the men's team championships final against China due to a back injury, dished out a clinical performance to expectedly outwit Mongolia's Batdavaa Munkhbat 21-9, 21-12 in 25 minutes.
He will next face either Jordan's Bahaedeen Ahmad Alshannik or Kazakhstan's Dmitriy Panarin.
Former world champion Sindhu also looked good as she beat world no. 21 We Chi Hsu of Chinese Taipei 21-10, 21-15.
Sindhu will play either Indonesia's Putri Kusuma Wardani or Hong Kong's Liang Ka Wing next.
Sindhu was leading 7-5 in the opening game. She kept her errors low and engaged in rallies, using her tosses and clears. Soon she was 11-6 and 15-6 up.
The Indian moved to 10 game points when her opponent found the net. Sindhu wasted one before sealing it when her rival went long.
The second game was a tight affair. Sindhu got her length right early and tried to pin her opponent at the back court, managing to lead 4-2 but the Taipei girl managed to keep close and produced an angled smash to make it 8-7.
An on-the-line return helped Hsu to claw back at 9-9 but Sindhu ensured she has a one-point lead at the interval. The Indian extended the lead to 18-14 before a backhand return took her to five game points and she sealed the contest comfortably.
