Hiroki okamura

KD Jadhav Indoor Hall: Former champion P.V. Sindhu rekindled memories of her old aggressive self while up-and-coming Kiran George kept his nerves under pressure to register straight games win while the men’s doubles combination of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty came back from a game down to advance to the quarterfinals of the India Open 2025, a BWF World Tour Super 750 event, at the KD Jadhav Indoor Hall here on Thursday.

Sindhu, playing only her second tournament since the Paris Olympics, hammered Japan’s Manami Suizu 21-15, 21-13 while George defeated Frenchman Alex Lanier 22-20, 21-13 in the men’s singles second-round clash. Later in the day, the 2022 champions Satwik/Chirag had to regroup after losing the first game to beat Japan’s Kenya Mitsuhashi/Hiroki Okamura 20-22, 21-14, 21-16.

Among the other top players in the fray, last edition runners-up Lee Cheuk Yiu of Hong Kong had to save a match point in the decider against Toma Junior Popov before winning the one hour 16 minutes clash 14-21, 21-18, 22-20 to advance to the quarterfinals. While that match kept the fans on the edge of their seats, Sindhu and George gave them enough reasons to celebrate.