Top Indian shuttlers PV Sindhu, Kidambi Srikanth and HS Prannoy moved into the quarterfinals of the Australia Open badminton BWF Super 500 tournament with contrasting victories, on Thursday.
The fifth seed Sindhu, who had lost in the first round at seven different tour events this season and is playing under a new personal coach in Malaysia’s Muhammad Hafiz Hashim, easily overcame compatriot Aakarshi Kashyap 21-14 21-10 in a second round women’s singles match.
The double Olympic medallist Sindhu will face fourth seed Beiwen Zhang of USA in the quarterfinal.
In men’s singles, Srikanth stormed past Li Yang Su of Chinese Taipei 21-10 21-17, while sixth seed Prannoy had to fight for one hour and 14 minutes to get past Chinese Taipei’s Yu Jen Chi 21-19 21-19 21-13.
Rising Indian shuttler Priyanshu Rajawat also continued with his impressive run, reaching the quarterfinals by beating Chinese Taipei’s Tzu Wei Wang 21-8 13-21 21-19 in a tough contest that lasted for 59 minutes.
However, it was curtains for two other Indian men’s singles shuttlers Mithun Manjunath and Kiran George.
Manjunath, who had stunned fourth seed and world No 7 Kean Yew Loh of Singapore in the opening round, lost 13-21 21-12 19-21 against Malaysia’s Zii Jia Lee.
Geroge was no match for top seed Anthony Sinisuka Ginting of Indonesia, losing the contest in straight games 15-21 18-21.
While Prannoy has a tough opponent in Ginting to deal with in the quarterfinals, it will be a contest between two Indians among the seasoned Srikanth and young Rajawat.
In women’s doubles, the Indian pair of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand Pullela also crashed out in the second round, losing to fourth seeds Mayu Matsumoto and Wakana Nagahara of Japan 10-21 20-22.
The tournament is the last event before the World Championships in Copenhagen, Denmark.
The BWF World Tour is divided into six levels, namely World Tour Finals, four Super 1000, six Super 750, seven Super 500, and 11 Super 300.
One other category of the tournament, the BWF Tour Super 100 level, also offers ranking points.
Where to watch Australian Open 2023 badminton live in India
Live streaming of the Australian Open 2023 badminton matches will be available on the Badminton World Federation’s official YouTube channel, BWF TV. The event will not be telecast live on any TV channel in India.
Australian Open 2023 badminton: Indian squad
Men’s singles:
Main draw: Lakshya Sen, Priyanshu Rajawat, HS Prannoy, Kidambi Srikanth, Mithun Manjunath, Kiran George
Women’s singles:
Main draw: PV Sindhu, Aakarshi Kashyap, Malvika Bansod, Tasnim Mir, Ashmita Chaliha
Men’s doubles:
Main draw: –
Qualifiers: Kush Chugh/Aman Nandal
Women’s doubles:
Main draw: Treesa Jolly/Gayatri Gopichand, Tanisha Crasto/Ashwini Ponnappa
Qualifiers: N Sikki Reddy/Arathi Sara Sunil
Mixed doubles
Main draw: Rohan Kapoor/N Sikki Reddy, B. Sumeeth Reddy /Ashwini Ponnappa
