Muristek
Suncheon, April 7
Ace Indian shuttlers PV Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth progressed to the quarterfinals but Lakshya Sen was ousted in the second round at the Korea Open Super 500 badminton tournament here today.
World No. 7 Sindhu, a two-time Olympics medallist, got the better of world No. 26 Japan's Aya Ohori 21-15 21-10 in a lopsided contest to take her head-to-head count against the Japanese to an overwhelming 12-0.
The third-seeded Indian will next face a familiar foe in Thailand's Busanan Ongbamrungphan, whom she had defeated in the final of the Swiss Open last month.
Former world champion Sindhu, who has claimed two Super 300 titles this season at the Syed Modi International and Swiss Open, enjoys a 16-1 lead in 17 meetings against the world No. 11 Thai.
Srikanth saw off Israel's Misha Zilberman 21-18 21-6 to set up a clash with local hope and former world No. 1 Son Wanho in the men's singles. However, Sen, ranked ninth in the world, went down 20-22 9-21 to world No. 24 Shesar Hiren Rhustavito in 33 minutes.
Malvika Bansod, another fast-rising player from India, also failed to advance as she was brushed aside by Thailand's Pornpawee Chochuwong 21-8 21-14 in a second-round women's singles clash that lasted 39 minutes.
In the men's doubles, the world No. 7 pairing of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty defeated Singapore's Hee Yong Kai Terry and Loh Kean Hean 21-15 21-19 in 36 minutes to advance to the quarters.
MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila, however, retired while lagging 5-8 in the first game against the second-seeded Indonesian pair of Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan.
It was curtains for the mixed doubles pair of Sumeeth Reddy and Ashwini Ponnappa. The duo went down 20-22 21-18 14-21 to the fifth-seeded Chinese pair Ou Xuan Yi and Huang Ya Qiong in a gruelling battle. —