PV Sindhu, Lakshya Sen enter Thailand Open Quarterfinals; Kidambi Srikanth knocked out
PV Sindhu and Lakshya Sen advanced to the quarterfinals of the Thailand Open Super 500 badminton tournament in Bangkok on Thursday with commanding straight-game victories, while former world No. 1 Kidambi Srikanth exited the competition after a hard-fought loss.
Two-time Olympic medallist and sixth seed PV Sindhu defeated Denmark’s Amalie Schulz 21-13, 21-15 in just 28 minutes to book her place in the women’s singles last eight.
Seventh seed Lakshya Sen also registered a dominant win, beating China’s Zhu Xuan Chen 21-12, 21-13 in 39 minutes to progress further in the men’s singles draw.
Sindhu will next face top seed and world No. 3 Akane Yamaguchi of Japan in the quarterfinals, while Lakshya Sen is set to take on Thailand’s second seed Kunlavut Vitidsarn in a high-profile clash.
In men’s doubles, India’s top pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty continued their strong run, defeating Malaysia’s Bryan Jeremy Goonting and Muhammad Haikal 21-12, 21-19 to reach the last eight. They will next face Japan’s Takumi Nomura and Yuichi Shimogami.
However, it was disappointment for Kidambi Srikanth, who lost 16-21, 21-11, 18-21 to Chinese Taipei’s Su Li Yang in a closely contested one-hour-and-10-minute match.
Young Indian shuttler Devika Sihag also bowed out after a 21-23, 11-21 defeat to Thailand’s Pitchamon Opatniputh.
Lakshya Sen showed strong control in his match, recovering from an early tie in the opening game before taking command and maintaining momentum through the second game to seal a comfortable win.
