Sindhu, Prannoy glide into Malaysia Masters quarterfinals

Kuala Lumpur, July 7

India’s two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu and compatriot HS Prannoy cruised to the quarterfinals of the Malaysia Masters with straight-game wins here on Thursday.

Sindhu, who is seeded seventh, made short work of the world number 32 China’s Zhang Yi Man 21-12 21-10 in just 28 minutes in the women’s singles second round clash.

However, a tough contest awaits the former World Champion, currently ranked seventh in the world, as she will cross swords with her nemesis Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei in the last eight.

Sindhu has a dismal 5-16 head-to-head record against the world No. 2, who had also beaten the Indian in the quarterfinals of the Malaysia Open last week.

In the men’s singles contest, Prannoy eked out a 21-19 21-16 Wang Tzu Wei of Chinese Taipei to book a quarterfinal against Japan’s Kanta Tsuneyama.

However, B Sai Praneeth and former Commonwealth Games champion Parupalli Kashyap bowed out of the competition.

While Paneeth lost to Li She Feng of China 14-21 17-21 in 42 minutes, Kashyap was dispatched 10-21 15-21 by sixth seed Indonesian Anthony Sinisuka Ginting.