Sindhu and Prannoy turn up heat in Dubai
Dubai, April 27
Two-time Olympics medallist PV Sindhu sailed into the quarterfinals of the women’s singles event at the Badminton Asia Championships with a straight-game win over China’s Han Yue here today.
Besides Sindhu, India’s ace men’s singles shuttler HS Prannoy battled his way into the quarterfinals but it was curtains for compatriot Kidambi Srikanth.
While Prannoy, seeded eighth, had to battle it out for an hour and two minutes to prevail over Indonesian Chico Aura Dwi Wardoyo 16-21 21-5 18-21 in a Round of 16 match, Srikanth was shown the door by the fourth-seeded Japanese Kodai Naraoka 14-21 22-20 9-21.
Prannoy will next play Kanta Tsuneyama of Japan.
Sindhu was at her lethal best as she took just 33 minutes to beat Yue 21-12 21-15 in a Round of 16 match. Eighth seed Sindhu will next play second seed An Se Young of South Korea.
In the mixed doubles, Rohan Kapoor and N Sikki Reddy entered the quarterfinals after the fourth-seeded South Korean pair of Seo Seung Jae Chae Yu Jung handed the Indians a walkover.
The Indian duo will next meet Indonesian pair of Dejan Ferdinansyah and Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja.
However, it was curtains for B Sumeeth Reddy and Ashwini Ponnappa as they lost 15-21 17-21.
The sixth-seeded Indian pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty also progressed to the quarterfinals of the men’s doubles event with a convincing 21-13 21-11 win over Jin Yong and Na Sung Seung. The Indians will take on the third-seeded Indonesian pair of Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan.
