JOIN USSindhu to take on Marin in quarters
Ace Indian shuttler P V Sindhu set up a quarterfinal clash with Spain’s Carolina Marin in the USD 350,000 Singapore Super Series after posting hard-fought win in the women’s singles on Thursday.
Rio Olympic silver medallist Sindhu who clinched the India Open earlier this month beating Marin in the final, had to toil hard before prevailing 19-21, 21-17, 21-8 over Indonesian World No 27 Fitriani Fitriani in a match that lasted an hour at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
Marin defeated Chia Hsin Lee of Chinese Taipei 21-7, 21-11.
India’s top men’s shuttler, B Sai Praneeth too advanced to the quarterfinals after a gritty performance to see off China’s Qiao Bin 21-15, 21-23, 21-16 in an hour and 12 minutes.
The World No 30 Praneeth will clash with eighth seeded Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk of Thailand in his quarterfinal clash.
K Srikanth too had to fight hard to earn his place in the last eight as he faced a tough challenge from Ihsan Maulana Mustofa of Indonesia. Srikanth lost the first game before bouncing back to script a 18-21, 21-19, 22-20 win.
B Sumeeth Reddy and Ashwini Ponnappa, who reached the final at Lucknow in January, eked out a thrilling 17-21, 21-17, 21-16 win over Korean pair of Jae Hwan Kim and Lee So Hee to also reach the quarterfinals of mixed doubles competitions. The Indian pair will take on third seeded Chinese combo of Lu Kai and Huang Yaqiong.
In women’s doubles, Ashwini and Sikki Reddy lost to Misaki Matsutomo and Ayaka Takahashi of Japan 11-21, 21-19, 12-21.