Malaysia Open 2026: PV Sindhu cruises into pre-quarters; Satwik-Chirag also progress

New Delhi [India], January 7 (ANI): India's ace shuttler PV Sindhu advanced to the pre-quarterfinals of the women's singles at the Malaysia Open 2026 after registering a straight-games win at the Axiata Arena in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday, as per Olympics.com.
The two-time Olympian, currently ranked 18th in the BWF women's singles rankings, defeated world No. 33 Sung Shuo-yun of Chinese Taipei 21-13, 22-20 to move into the second round of the tournament.
Sindhu took some time to settle into the contest but managed to hold a slender 11-9 lead at the mid-game interval of the opening game. She then found her rhythm and closed out the first game comfortably. The second game proved to be more challenging as Sung pushed Sindhu to the limit, forcing a tie-breaker.
The win marked Sindhu's third victory over Sung Shuo-yun in as many encounters. She will now face a tough challenge against Japan's Tomoka Miyazaki, the world No. 9, in the pre-quarterfinals.
India also enjoyed success in the men's doubles, Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy progressing to the second round. The third-seeded Indian pair cruised past Chinese Taipei's Lee Jhe-huei and Yang Po-hsuan 21-13, 21-15 in a match that lasted just 35 minutes.
With this result, Satwik and Chirag extended their dominant head-to-head record against the Taipei duo to 6-0.
However, it was a mixed day for India in the women's doubles. Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand bowed out after a closely-fought three-game loss, going down 21-9, 21-23, 21-19 to Indonesia's Febriana Dwipuji Kusuma and Meilysa Trias Puspita Sari.
Rutaparna Panda and Swetaparna Panda also exited in the opening round following a straight-games defeat to second seeds Pearly Tan and Thinaah Muralitharan of Malaysia, losing 21-11, 21-9. Kavipriya Selvam and Simran Singhi suffered a similar fate after going down 21-12, 21-11 against Japan's fifth-seeded pair Yuki Fukushima and Mayu Matsumoto.
India's mixed doubles campaign also ended on Wednesday. Tanisha Crasto and Dhruv Kapila, who represented India at the Paris 2024 Olympics, were knocked out in the first round after a three-game loss to Americans Presley Smith and Jennie Gai, 21-15, 18-21, 21-15.
Rohan Kapoor and Ruthvika Shivani Gadde were also eliminated in the opening round after losing 21-10, 21-17 to second-seeded People's Republic of China's Jiang Zhenbang and Wei Yaxin. Ashith Surya and Amrutha Pramuthesh's campaign came to an end following a 21-11, 21-9 defeat against Thailand's Phuwanat Horbanluekit and Benyapa Aimsaard, bringing curtains down on India's mixed doubles challenge at the BWF Super 1000 event. (ANI)