Sindhu, Srikanth reach quarters

Former champions P V Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth recorded contrasting victories to advance to the quarterfinals of the China Open World Tour Super 750 here on Thursday.

While Olympic and two-time World Championship silver medallist Sindhu stamped her authority with a 21-12, 21-15 win over Thailand's Busanan Ongbamrungphan in the second round, Srikanth got the better of Indonesia's Tommy Sugiarto in a three-game match.

The third-seeded Sindhu, who had clinched the title in 2016, will face a tough test against eighth-seeded He Bingjiao next. Sindhu has lost both the meetings against the world No 7 Chinese.

Srikanth, who had skipped the event due to a muscle strain last season, managed to script a 10-21, 21-9, 21-9 win in a 45-minute men's singles match.

Next, he will face Chinese Taipei's Chou Tien Chen, who won a silver medal at the Jakarta Asian Games this year.

World No 9 Srikanth has lost to Chen twice in the last three years. The only time he had an upper hand was at the 2014 Hong Kong Open.