Indian ace PV Sindhu along with another young Indian badminton sensation Tanvi Sharma successfully made their way into the second round of the Australian Badminton Open 2026, which took place yesterday. Two-time Olympian PV Sindhu was able to defeat her Peruvian opponent Ines Castillo in straight games 21-13, 21-11 in the Olympic Boulevard courts in under 30 minutes.

Next, Sindhu will be facing fellow Indian Israni Barua in the pre-quarterfinal rounds. Israni Barua, ranked No. 39, won her game against the Chinese badminton star Han Qianxi 22-20, 10-21, 21-14. On the other hand, Tanvi Sharma, 17, was able to defeat her Taiwanese counterpart Chiu Pin-Chien 21-12, 22-20. She will be going against Malvika Bansod, who defeated Thai star Tonrug Saeheng 15-21, 21-7, 21-13.

The victory of Tanvi is very crucial as she was not successful in moving beyond the first round in her last eight games in the BWF circuit in the year 2026, despite ranking high after gaining success in the World Junior Championships where she clinched the silver medal. While the Indian players' campaign in the women's singles was gaining momentum, the men's challenge ended quickly. Kiran George was defeated by Malaysia's Justin Hoh in a close three-game match, while qualifier Saneeth Dayanand lost to China's Hu Zhe-An.

Tharun Mannepalli suffered the closest defeat of the day. Against world number 10 Lin Chun-yi of Chinese Taipei, the Indian fought for an hour and 20 minutes but lost 18-21, 21-13, 23-25 ​​in a thrilling first-round encounter. India's presence in the women's singles draw further strengthened when Tanya Hemanth defeated Ishika Jaiswal of USA 21-17, 21-18. However, Aakarshi Kashyap's journey ended after losing to Wong Ling Ching of Malaysia 19-21, 21-19, 20-22.