PV Sindhu in Korea Open quarter-final, others crash out

PV Sindhu secured a spot for herself in the quarterfinals of the Korea Open Super 500 badminton tournament on Thursday after beating Japan’s Aya Ohori. The ace Indian shuttler glided through the game and secured a comfortable win, finishing with a tally of 21-15 21-10.

PV Sindhu got off to a steady start and allowed her Japanese rival to take a one-point lead only once in the game.

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Lakshya Sen and Malvika Bansod, however, could not make it past the second round matches of the tournament and crashed out. 

PV Sindhu, a two-time Olympic medalist, faces Busanan Ongbamrungphan in her next match. She is expected to win against a familiar rival, repeating the win she secured against the Thai player at the Swiss Open last month.

The former world champion, who has claimed two Super 300 titles this season at Syed Modi International and Swiss Open, enjoys a 16-1 lead in 17 meetings against the world number 11 player, according to PTI. 

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Lakshya Sen, India’s rising badminton star, was defeated in a short match by world number 24 Shesar Hiren Rhustavito. The match ended with a tally of 20-22, 9-21.

Malvika Bansod, who was also playing against a Thai rival, lost 8-21, 14-21 in the women’s singles.

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It was curtains for the mixed doubles pair of Sumeeth Reddy and Ashwini Ponnappa as well. The duo fought hard but eventually went down 20-22 21-18 14-21 to the fifth seed Chinese combine of Ou Xuan Yi and Huang Ya Qiong in a battle that lasted close to an hour, PTI reported.