Sindhu, Lakshya enter Thailand Open quarters; Srikanth exits
Indian shuttlers PV Sindhu and Lakshya Sen advanced to the quarterfinals of the US $500,000 Thailand Open Super 500 tournament with straight-game wins in their respective matches here on Thursday.
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Two-time Olympic medallist and sixth seed Sindhu needed just 28 minutes to outclass Denmark’s Amalie Schulz 21-13, 21-15 in the women’s singles second round.
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Seventh seed Lakshya, the 2021 World Championships bronze medallist, defeated China’s Zhu Xuan Chen 21-12, 21-13 in a men’s singles clash that lasted 39 minutes.
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Sindhu will next face top seed and world No. 3 Akane Yamaguchi of Japan, while Lakshya will take on Thailand’s second seed Kunlavut Vitidsarn.
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India’s top-seeded men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty also marched into the last-eight stage with a 21-12, 21-19 win over Malaysia’s Bryan Jeremy Goonting and Muhammad Haikal in 44 minutes.
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The World No. 4 Indian duo will next meet the sixth-seeded Japanese combination of Takumi Nomura and Yuichi Shimogami.
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However, former World No. 1 Kidambi Srikanth crashed out after going down 16-21, 21-11, 18-21 to Chinese Taipei’s World No. 47 Su Li Yang in a hard-fought contest lasting one hour and 10 minutes.
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It was also the end of the road for young Devika Sihag, who had clinched her maiden Super 300 title at the Thailand Masters earlier this year. She lost 21-23, 11-21 to Thailand’s Pitchamon Opatniputh.
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Lakshya made a brisk start against Chen, racing to a 6-2 lead before the Chinese player fought back to draw level at 11-11. The Indian, however, shifted gears immediately, winning six consecutive points to take firm control of the opening game.
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In the second game, Lakshya looked sharper and more assured as he surged to an 11-5 advantage at the interval and never allowed Chen a way back, capitalising on pressure-induced errors from his opponent.
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Also read: Srikanth, Sindhu, Lakshya advance at Thailand Open