China Open: Sindhu, Srikanth enter quarter-finals

NEW DELHI: London Olympic silver medallist P V Sindhu and India’s top ranked men’s player Kidambi Srikanth registered hard fought victories to advance to the quarter-finals of China Open-2018 in Changzhou, China, on Thursday.
Third seed Sindhu, after loosing first game, came back strongly to defeat Busanan Ongbamrungphan of Thailand 21-23, 21-13, 21-18 to reach into the quarter-finals of the tournament.
The match lasted for one hour and nine minutes. In men’s singles, the seventh seeded Srikanth defeated Suppanyu Avihingsanon of Thailand to win the pre-quarter-finals 21-12, 15-21, 24-22 in an hour . The Thai player won the second set to enter the final set, which could have gone either way. But Srikanth showed nerves of steel to advance to the quarter-finals.
But in the doubles, India’s challenge ended as all three Indian pairs lost to their respective opponents. Pranaav Jerry Chopra and N Sikki Reddy lost 16-21, 10-21 to Danish pair of Mathias Christiansen and Christinna Pederson, while Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy were outperformed by Chinese Taipei’s Chen Hung Ling and Wang Chi-Lin 9-21, 10-21 in just 24 minutes in the men’s doubles second round match. In the mixed doubles round two match, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Ashwini Ponappa lost to Zheng Siwei and Huang Yaqiong (Chinese pair) 14-21, 11-21. (UNI)