Sindhu, Saina enter quarters of Australian Super Series
Praneeth edges China’s Huang; Saina, Sindhu enter last 8 stage
Sydney, June 22: Kidambi Srikanth and B. Sai Praneeth emerged from thrilling victories in the men’s singles second round to set up an allIndian quarter-final at the $750,000 Australian Super Series, here on Thursday.
Olympic silver medallist P.V. Sindhu and defending champion Saina Nehwal also advanced to the quarter-finals of the women’s singles.
Srikanth, who edged out Son Wan Ho in the semifinals of Indonesia Open last week, once again had an upper hand against the world no. 1 from South Korea, beating him 15-21, 21-13, 21-13 in a 57-minute clash, improving their head-to-head to 4-4.
“In the third game I thought I have to get the extra shuttle, that worked for me,” said Srikanth.
“He’s someone who doesn’t attack too much, just keeps the rally going. You have to be steadier than him or you have to crack him. In these conditions it’s hard to go on all-out attack. My training is paying off. I’m really confident about my fitness.”
Sai Praneeth staved off a challenge from China’s Huang Yuxiang 21-15, 1821, 21-13 in a match that lasted 64 minutes.
Praneeth had beaten the Chinese at the 2015 US Open in their only meeting.
Srikanth and Praneeth met in the final of Singapore Open in April with the latter emerging victorious.
In the women’s singles, fifth seed Sindhu defeated China’s Chen Xiaoxin 2113, 21-18 in 46 minutes. She will clash with world no. 1 and top seed Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei.
Sindhu has lost six times to Tai Tzu, and beaten her thrice, which included a victory during the Rio Olympic Games.
No. 16 Saina survived a scare from little-known Soniia Cheah of the USA 21-15, 20-22, 21-14 to set up a clash with sixth seeded Chinese Sun Yu.
The former top ranker has defeated Sun six times, including a win in the final of the Australian Open.
In women’s doubles, Ashwini Ponnappa and N. Sikki Reddy suffered a 2118, 18-21, 13-21 loss to seventh seeded Japanese Shiho Tanaka and Koharu Yonemoto.
In men’s doubles, eighth seeded Chinese Taipei’s Chen Lung Ling and Wang Chi-Lin beat Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty 21-16, 21-18.
SRIKANTH, PRANNOY CLIMB IN RANKINGS
Srikanth has improved 11 places to 11th in the latest world rankings.
The former world no. 3 clinched his second Super Series Premier event last week at Jakarta. He now has 51,603 points.
H.S. Prannoy, who stunned Malaysia’s Lee Chong Wei and China’s Chen Long in Indonesia to reach the semi-finals, improved four places to be 21st.
Ajay Jayaram and B. Sai Praneeth slipped two places to take the 15th and 16th spots.
In women’s singles, Saina Nehwal and P.V. Sindhu lost a place each to slump to fourth and 16th positions respectively.
Women’s doubles pair of Ponnappa and Reddy improved two places to 26th, while Sikki and Pranaav Jerry Chopra lost a place to be at 16th in mixed doubles.