Lakshya Sen loses to Qi, bows out in opening round of Badminton Asia Championships

A valiant HS Prannoy rallied his way to a morale-boosting three-game win over China's Lu Guang Zu as he and double Olympic medallist PV Sindhu progressed to the second round of the Badminton Asia Championships at Ningbo China on Wednesday. World No.

9 Prannoy showed exemplary mental fortitude as he battled for 90 minutes before prevailing 17-21 23-21 23-21 over Lu, ranked 16th, to set up a second-round clash with Chinese Taipei's Lin Chun-Yi.

Sindhu, who is desperately seeking to rediscover her form ahead of the Paris Olympics, too survived some tense moments before overcoming world number 33 Goh Jin Wei from Malaysia 18-21 21-14 21-19 in a tough opening round match.