India made an impressive start to its Taipei Open Super 300 campaign on Wednesday, with experienced shuttler HS Prannoy and rising star Unnati Hooda leading a strong Indian performance by progressing to the second round of the singles events.
Seventh seed Prannoy cruised past Japan's Minoru Koga 21-11, 21-14 in just 35 minutes in a dominant men's singles opening-round match. He will next face Hong Kong's Jason Gunawan, who defeated fellow Indian Mithun Manjunath 21-18, 21-4.
Strong showing in men's singles
Kiran George and Tharun Mannepalli also advanced to the second round to keep India's hopes alive in the men's singles draw. George registered a comfortable 21-10, 21-18 win over Chinese Taipei's Wang Po-Wei, while Mannepalli produced one of the tournament's biggest upsets by defeating eighth seed Jeon Hyeok Jin of South Korea 21-12, 21-15.
The two Indians will now face each other in an all-Indian second-round clash.
Qualifier Rounak Chauhan, however, bowed out after suffering a 21-14, 21-16 straight-game defeat to Indonesia's Richie Duta Richardo.
Unnati Hooda leads women's charge
Third seed Unnati Hooda began her campaign in style, beating Chinese Taipei's Pei Yu Wang 21-12, 21-18 to move into the second round. She will next take on fellow Indian Tanya Hemanth, who overcame local player Wen Chi Hsu 21-16, 14-21, 21-16 in a hard-fought three-game encounter.
India also enjoyed victories through Devika Sihag, Tanvi Sharma and Anmol Kharb.
Eighth seed Devika recovered after losing the opening game to defeat South Korea's Ga Eun Park 14-21, 21-7, 21-15. Tanvi got the better of compatriot Tasnim Mir 21-16, 22-20, while Anmol edged past USA's Ishika Jaiswal 21-15, 11-21, 21-19.
Devika will next face Indonesia's Ni Kadek Dhinda Amartya Pratiwi, who eliminated India's Rakshitha Sree Santhosh Ramraj in three games. Tanvi is set to meet Indonesia's Thalita Ramadhani Wiryawan, while Anmol faces a tough challenge against second seed Hsiang Ti Lin of Chinese Taipei.
Lin booked her place in the second round after recovering to beat India's Ashmita Chaliha 16-21, 21-14, 21-15.
Elsewhere, Shriyanshi Valishetty's campaign ended with an 11-21, 12-21 loss to Thailand's fourth seed Supanida Katethong.
Later on Wednesday, Isharani Baruah is scheduled to face home favourite and top seed Pin-Chian Chiu in another first-round women's singles match.
