Sindhu, Srikanth, Prannoy enter quarter-finals of Malaysia Masters
KUALA LUMPUR: Star Indian shuttlers PV Sindhu, HS Prannoy and Kidambi Srikanth booked their places in the quarterfinals of the Malaysia Masters Super 500 tournament with contrasting wins over their respective rivals here on Thursday.
While double Olympic medallist and sixth seed Sindhu disposed of Aya Ohori of Japan in straight games in women’s singles, Prannoy had to dig deep to get the better of Shi Feng Li of China in a tough three-game men’s singles contest. Later in the day, Srikanth prevailed over India Open champion and eighth seed Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand.
Taking the court first, world No. 13 Sindhu extended her domination over Ohori, ranked 28th, taking just 40 minutes to beat the Japanese 21-16, 21-11 in the round of 16. It was her 13th win over the Japanese in as many meetings.
Sindhu will face China’s Yi Man Zhang in the quarterfinals.
World No. 9 Prannoy then overcame a game deficit to beat world No. 11 and reigning All England champion Li 13-21, 21-16, 21-11 in one hour and 10 minutes to book his berth in the last-eight stage.
Prannoy will next meet Japan’s Kenta Nishimoto, who has claimed victories in 2022 Japan Open and Spain Masters this year.
Coming into the match with a 0-3 head-to-head record, Srikanth notched up a 21-19, 21-19 win over Vitidsarn to also make it to the quarterfinals.
The 2021 World Championships silver medallist will meet Indonesian qualifier Christian Adinata.
Lakshya Sen, however, lost to Angus Ng Ka Long of Hong Kong 14-21, 19-21 to end his campaign.