Suncheon, April 7: Former world champion P V Sindhu and world championships silver medallist Kidambi Srikanth advanced to the quarterfinals of the Korea Open badminton championships here on Thursday. While Sindhu defeated Ohori of Japan 21-15, 21-10, Srikanth trounced Misha Israel’s Zilberman 21-18, 21-6 to enter the last eight. In the quarterfinals, Sindhu will be up against familiar foe Busanan Ongbamrungphan of Thailand, whom she defeated in the Swiss Open final last month. Srikanth will play Son Wanho of South Korea to seal the semifinal spot.
All England open finalist Lakshya Sen, however, crashed out in Round-16 after losing 20-22, 9-21 to Hiren Rhustavito of Indonesia. Youngster Malvika Bansod, meanwhile, went down to Thai opponent Pornpawee Chochuwong 8-21,14-21 in the second round of the women’s singles. The men’s doubles team of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty continued their winning run as they beat Singaporian Hee Yong Kai Terry and Loh Kean Hean 21-15, 21-19 to enter the last eight in the Super 500 tournament.
M R Arjun and Dhruv Kapila retired midway in the first set against second seeded Indonesians — Hendra Setiawan and Mohammad Ahsan. In the mixed doubles, Sumeeth Reddy and Ashwini Ponappa went down to Chinese Ou Xuan Yi and Huang Ya Qiong 20-22, 21-18, 14-21. UNI
