Two-time Olympic medallist P.V. Sindhu overcame stiff resistance from her Japanese nemesis Nozomi Okuhara in a thrilling three-game encounter in the Round of 32 at the Indonesia Open on Tuesday, even as Lakshya Sen and HS Prannoy suffered first-round exits.

In a high-intensity women’s singles match, Sindhu had to battle hard to register a 22-20, 21-23, 21-15 victory in a gruelling contest that lasted one hour and 19 minutes. After taking the opening game, the Indian appeared poised to close out the match in straight games, but Okuhara fought back to force a decider.

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In the final game, Sindhu maintained a steady lead for most of the duration before closing it out in style to advance to the second round of the BWF Super 1000 event.

Meanwhile, Malvika Bansod’s campaign ended in heartbreak after the 23-year-old retired hurt during her match against local player Putri Kusuma Wardani. Bansod was leading 21-16, 16-15 at the time of retirement.

The other Indian women’s singles players also failed to cross the first-round hurdle. Anupama Upadhyaya bowed out after a straight-games defeat to South Korea’s Kim Ga Eun, while Rakshitha Ramraj squandered a first-game lead to lose 21-14, 15-21, 12-21 against Thailand’s Supanida Katethong.

In men’s singles, Lakshya Sen suffered his fifth first-round exit of the season, going down 11-21, 22-20, 15-21 to China’s Shi Yu Qi. His compatriot H.S. Prannoy also made an early exit after a 17-21, 18-21 loss to Indonesia’s Alwi Farhan.

Later in the day, India’s top men’s doubles pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty are scheduled to take the court.