Indian badminton stars delivered an impressive performance at the prestigious Thailand Open as PV Sindhu, Lakshya Sen and Kidambi Srikanth stormed into the pre-quarterfinals of their respective singles events in Bangkok.
In Women’s Singles, two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu comfortably defeated Tung Ciou-Tong of Chinese Taipei in straight games 21-9, 21-12. Sindhu will now face Denmark’s Amalie Schulz in the Round of 16.
Young Indian shuttler Devika Sihag produced a major upset by defeating world No. 26 Natsuki Nidaira of Japan 21-19, 13-21, 21-15. She will next take on Thailand’s Pitchamon Opatniputh.
Another Indian contender, Malvika Bansod, fought back brilliantly to beat Canada’s Wen Yu Zhang 13-21, 26-24, 21-13 and book a clash against China’s Chen Yufei.
However, India faced setbacks as Tanvi Sharma, Unnati Hooda and Anmol Kharb suffered first-round exits after losing their respective matches.
In Men’s Singles, seventh seed Lakshya Sen defeated Singapore’s Jia Heng Jason Teh 21-16, 21-17 to advance into the Round of 16. He is set to face Chinese Taipei’s Su Li-yang next.
Former world No. 1 Kidambi Srikanth also impressed with a commanding 21-14, 21-15 victory over Singapore’s eighth seed Loh Kean Yew. Srikanth will also face Su Li Yang in the next round.
Meanwhile, Ayush Shetty lost to Japan’s sixth seed Kodai Naraoka 13-21, 21-17, 4-21, while Tharun Mannepalli went down to Japan’s Koki Watanabe 12-21, 16-21.
India’s challenge in Mixed Doubles ended early as Ashith Surya and Amrutha Pramuthesh lost 22-24, 11-21 to Tsai Fu Cheng and Sung Yu-Hsuan. Another Indian pair, Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto, were defeated 9-21, 15-21 by Denmark’s Mathias Christiansen and Alexandra Boje.
