<p> Olympic silver medallist P V Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth entered the quarterfinals in the singles event at the World Badminton Championships here on Thursday.<br /><br />Sindhu, who won a bronze medal at the 2013 and 2014 editions, survived a scare against Hong Kong’s Cheung Ngan Yi before prevailing 19-21, 23-21, 21-17 in a thrilling women’s singles match that lasted an hour and 27 minutes. The 22-year-old Indian fought back from 13-16 down in the second game after losing the first to eventually come up trumps. She will face fifth seed Sun Yu of China next.<br /><br />Srikanth, however, eased into the last eight with yet another straight-game win over Denmark’s Anders Antonsen in men’s singles. On a 12-match winning streak, Srikanth knocked out the World No 18 Antonsen 21-14, 21-18. The World No 10 Indian will clash with top seed and World No 1 Korean Son Wan Ho in the quarterfinals.<br /><br />Saina Nehwal too booked her last eight berth, defeating Sung Ji Hyun of South Korea 21-19, 21-15. <br /><br />It was curtains for B Sai Praneeth, who went down 21-19, 21-10, 21-12 to Chou Tien-chen of Taiwan. <br /><br />India’s top mixed doubles pair of Pranaav Jerry Chopra and N Sikki Reddy, seeded 15th, played their heart out before going down 22-20, 18-21, 18-21 to Indonesian World Number 6 duo of Debby Susanto and Praveen Jordan.<br /><br />Sindhu found the going tough against her World No 17 opponent, who held a slender 11-9 lead at the break. After the interval, Sindhu clawed back with two points but the duel between the two became more fierce as they moved neck and neck till 19-19 when the Hong Kong girl moved ahead to earn the bragging rights. Jolted by the first game reversal, Sindhu opened up a 4-0 lead but Cheung drew parity at 9-9 before grabbing an 11-10 advantage at the interval.<br /><br />The Hong Kong girl then moved to a 16-13 lead. Sindhu, however, turned the tables at 17-16 and had three game point at 20-17. Cheung accumulated three points and was tied 21-21 when the Indian marched ahead. In the decider, Sindhu moved to a 11-6 lead early on but Cheung once again caught up with the Indian at 12-12. Sindhu then distanced herself, reaching 15-12 before comfortably grabbing five match points at 20-15 and winning in style. <br /><br />On Wednesday, Ajay Jayaram disposed off Netherland’s Mark Caljouw 21-13, 21-18 to advance to the pre-quarterfinals. Rituparna Das went down 16-21, 13-21 to local favourite Kirsty Gilmour.<br /><br />Yamaguchi stunned<br /><br />China’s Chen Yufei knocked out Japan’s top seed Akane Yamaguchi in the third round.<br /><br />The 19-year-old reigning world junior champion shocked the Japanese favourite with a straight games 21-18, 21-19.<br /><br />China’s Lin Dan came from behind to keep alive his hopes of a sixth world title on Wednesday as the 33-year-old saw off Denmark’s Emil Holst 19-21, 21-8, 21-16 .<br /><br /></p>
<p> Olympic silver medallist P V Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth entered the quarterfinals in the singles event at the World Badminton Championships here on Thursday.<br /><br />Sindhu, who won a bronze medal at the 2013 and 2014 editions, survived a scare against Hong Kong’s Cheung Ngan Yi before prevailing 19-21, 23-21, 21-17 in a thrilling women’s singles match that lasted an hour and 27 minutes. The 22-year-old Indian fought back from 13-16 down in the second game after losing the first to eventually come up trumps. She will face fifth seed Sun Yu of China next.<br /><br />Srikanth, however, eased into the last eight with yet another straight-game win over Denmark’s Anders Antonsen in men’s singles. On a 12-match winning streak, Srikanth knocked out the World No 18 Antonsen 21-14, 21-18. The World No 10 Indian will clash with top seed and World No 1 Korean Son Wan Ho in the quarterfinals.<br /><br />Saina Nehwal too booked her last eight berth, defeating Sung Ji Hyun of South Korea 21-19, 21-15. <br /><br />It was curtains for B Sai Praneeth, who went down 21-19, 21-10, 21-12 to Chou Tien-chen of Taiwan. <br /><br />India’s top mixed doubles pair of Pranaav Jerry Chopra and N Sikki Reddy, seeded 15th, played their heart out before going down 22-20, 18-21, 18-21 to Indonesian World Number 6 duo of Debby Susanto and Praveen Jordan.<br /><br />Sindhu found the going tough against her World No 17 opponent, who held a slender 11-9 lead at the break. After the interval, Sindhu clawed back with two points but the duel between the two became more fierce as they moved neck and neck till 19-19 when the Hong Kong girl moved ahead to earn the bragging rights. Jolted by the first game reversal, Sindhu opened up a 4-0 lead but Cheung drew parity at 9-9 before grabbing an 11-10 advantage at the interval.<br /><br />The Hong Kong girl then moved to a 16-13 lead. Sindhu, however, turned the tables at 17-16 and had three game point at 20-17. Cheung accumulated three points and was tied 21-21 when the Indian marched ahead. In the decider, Sindhu moved to a 11-6 lead early on but Cheung once again caught up with the Indian at 12-12. Sindhu then distanced herself, reaching 15-12 before comfortably grabbing five match points at 20-15 and winning in style. <br /><br />On Wednesday, Ajay Jayaram disposed off Netherland’s Mark Caljouw 21-13, 21-18 to advance to the pre-quarterfinals. Rituparna Das went down 16-21, 13-21 to local favourite Kirsty Gilmour.<br /><br />Yamaguchi stunned<br /><br />China’s Chen Yufei knocked out Japan’s top seed Akane Yamaguchi in the third round.<br /><br />The 19-year-old reigning world junior champion shocked the Japanese favourite with a straight games 21-18, 21-19.<br /><br />China’s Lin Dan came from behind to keep alive his hopes of a sixth world title on Wednesday as the 33-year-old saw off Denmark’s Emil Holst 19-21, 21-8, 21-16 .<br /><br /></p>