Double Olympic medallist PV Sindhu and Lakshya Sen entered ther quarterfinals of Singapore Open Super 750 with contrasting wins on Thursday. While, HS Prannoy crashed out of the event.
Sindhu thrashed Riko Gunji of Japan 21-9, 21-12 in her second round match that lasted 37 minutes.
A tough challenge now awaits Sindhu as she faces top seed An Se Young of South Korea in the quarterfinals. Sindhu is yet to beat the Olympic champion and has lost all eight matches against her, including their last meeting at the China Open last year.
Lakshya, who won a bronze medal at the 2021 World Championships, also reached the quarterfinals after second seed Kunlavut Viditsarn retired with a back injury after just two points. Lakshya will now face Japan’s Koki Watanabe.
In men’s doubles, the Indian pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty had to work hard for their win. The fourth seeds defeated Chinese Taipei’s Lee Jhe-Huei and Yang Po-Hsuan 21-15, 11-21, 21-18 in a one-hour match to book their place in the last eight. They will next play Malaysia’s Khai Xing Kang and Aaron Tai.
India’s mixed doubles pair of Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto also entered the quarterfinals after coming from behind to beat Japan’s Yuta Watanabe and Maya Taguchi 8-21, 21-17, 21-16.
However, Prannoy suffered a disappointing defeat. After winning the second game, he lost momentum in the decider and went down 18-21, 21-16, 15-21 to Singapore’s Loh Kean Yew in a match that lasted 61 minutes.
