Bukit Jalil (Malaysia), May 21 (UNI) India's star shuttler and two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu suffered an early exit from the Malaysia Masters 2025 badminton tournament after a first-round defeat to Vietnam’s Nguyễn Thùy Linh at the Axiata Arena, KL Sports City, here on Wednesday.

Sindhu, currently ranked world No. 16, went down 11-21, 21-14, 15-21 in a match lasting 63 minutes. Despite a fighting comeback in the second game, the Indian ace failed to maintain momentum in the decider. This was Nguyễn Thùy Linh’s second victory over Sindhu in four meetings.

Sindhu’s early elimination adds to a string of disappointing performances this season, with her best result being a quarterfinal finish at the India Open in January.

In contrast, Indian men’s singles players enjoyed a successful day.

World No. 35 HS Prannoy came from behind to stun fifth seed Kenta Nishimoto of Japan 19-21, 21-17, 21-16, while former world No. 1 Kidambi Srikanth (WR 65) defeated sixth seed Lu Guangzu of China 23-21, 13-21, 21-11 to book his place in the second round.

The biggest upset of the day came courtesy of Sathish Karunakaran, who beat third seed and world championships bronze medallist Chou Tien-chen of Chinese Taipei 21-13, 21-14 in a commanding display.

Youngster Ayush Shetty added to India’s success with a 20-22, 21-10, 21-8 win over Canada’s Brian Yang. Shetty had recently made headlines by reaching the semi-finals of the Taipei Open earlier this month.

However, it was a disappointing outing in mixed doubles for Indian pairs. Ashith Surya-Amrutha Pramuthesh were ousted by top seeds Jiang Zhenbang-Wei Yaxin of China 12-21, 10-21, while Rohan Kapoor-Ruthvika Gadde lost 10-21, 14-21 to fourth seeds Guo Xinwa-Chen Fanghui.

In another mixed doubles match, India’s Sathish Karunakaran and Aadya Variyath were beaten 15-21, 16-21 by Indonesia’s Verrell Yustin Mulia and Lisa Ayu Kusumawati.

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