PV Sindhu, Kidambi Srikanth, HS Prannoy enter quarterfinals of Australian Open | Badminton News

NEW DELHI: Indian badminton stars PV Sindhu, Kidambi Srikanth, and HS Prannoy showcased their prowess in the Australian Open BWF Super 500 tournament, securing their spots in the quarterfinals with impressive performances in Sydney on Thursday.

In the women’s singles category, the fifth seed PV Sindhu, who had faced early exits in seven different tour events this season, displayed a dominant form under the guidance of her new personal coach, Malaysia’s Muhammad Hafiz Hashim.
She cruised past her compatriot Aakarshi Kashyap with a commanding score of 21-14, 21-10 in the second round. Sindhu’s next challenge in the quarterfinals will be against the fourth seed, Beiwen Zhang of the USA.

In the men’s singles, Srikanth exhibited an outstanding performance, overpowering Li Yang Su of Chinese Taipei with a decisive scoreline of 21-10, 21-17.
Meanwhile, the sixth seed, Prannoy faced a tougher battle against Chinese Taipei’s Yu Jen Chi, prevailing after an intense one hour and 14-minute match with scores of 21-19, 19-21, 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.
(With PTI Inputs)