PV Sindhu, Srikanth survive, in quarters

CHINA OPEN Indian No 3 seed to play China’s Chen Yufei while Srikanth will eye revenge against nemesis Kento Momota of Japan

CHANGZHOU: PV Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth registered hard-fought victories to enter the quarter-finals of t heir respective events at the $1 million China Open here on Thursday.

Third seed Sindhu bounced back after losing a close first game to record a 21-23, 21-13, 21-18 win in her second round women’s singles match against Thailand’s Busanan Ongbamrungphan.

Srikanth’s match against Suppanyu Avihingsanon too went down to the wire. The seventh seeded Indian won the first game comfortably but the Thai player levelled the match.

The decider could have gone either way but Srikanth held his nerve to advance in the competition with a 21-12, 15-21, 24-22 win

However, India’s campaign ended in the doubles and mixed doubles events. Ashwini Ponnappa and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy went down 14-21, 11-21 against top seeds from China, Siwei Zheng and Huang Yaqiong in the round of 16.

Sikki Reddy and Pranav Jerry Chopra also met a similar fate, losing 16-21, 10-21 to sixth seeds Christinna Pedersen and Mathias Christiansen of Denmark .

In men’s doubles, Mannu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy were outplayed by Chen Hung Ling and Wang Chi-lin 9-21, 10-21.

However, both Indian players have tough opponents in the next round. Srikanth, who won the China Open in 2015, will be up against Japan’s Kento Momota.

Third seed Momota has been in sensational form this season. The Japanese scythed through the draw to win the singles title at the World Championships, besides winning Badminton Asia Championships crown and recently triumphed at home in Japan Open.

The Asian Games was the only blip as he went down to Indone-