On Wednesday, PV Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth advanced into the pre-quarterfinals of the Badminton Asia Championship with comfortable wins, while Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand made it to the last-16 and Lakshya Sen bowed out.
Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand, the women’s doubles bronze medalists at the Commonwealth Games, also secured a spot in the last-16.
Former world champion, Sindhu, fresh from her runner-up finish at the Madrid Spain Masters, made easy work of her opponent Wen Chi Hsu with a 21-15, 22-20 victory in the women’s singles. After falling behind 11-14 in the first game, Sindhu recovered and won nine points in a row to take the lead.
In the second game, Sindhu maintained her dominance, leading 11-7 at the break before sealing the match.
Sindhu will face the World No. 9 Han Yue of China in the pre-quarters.
Kidambi Srikanth, a former World Championship silver medalist, defeated Adnan Ebrahim in just 25 minutes winning 21-13, 21-8 in his first-round match and will now face world No 5 Kodai Naraoka in the men’s singles last-16.
Treesa-Gayatri secure comeback win
Treesa and Gayatri managed to strike back triumphantly after losing the first set. They beat Lanny Tria Mayasari and Ribka Sugiarto of Indonesia in an hour-long match with a score of 17-21, 21-17, and 21-18.
The Indian duo managed to take the lead throughout the second game after starting with a 5-0 lead. To force a decider, they maintained their lead throughout.
The Indonesian pair held a lead of 16-15 against Treesa and Gayatri, making the third game an intense duel. Treesa and Gayatri won the game in 64 minutes with a powerful cross-court smash and a score of 18-17.
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In addition, the mixed pair of Rohan Kapoor and Sikki Reddy won their opening round match, moving ahead in the tournament by defeating Malaysia’s Chan Peng Soon and Cheah Yee See with a score of 21-12, 21-16.
Lakshya Sen caps forgettable comeback
Lakshya Sen, the Commonwealth Games gold medalist, was eliminated by world number 7, Loh Kean Yew, in a 7-21, 21-23 defeat. Sen, who has suffered injuries lately, had a tough draw in the tournament.
Sen’s opponent, the Singaporean, showed swift court movements and raced to a 21-7 lead in the first game. While Sen fought back in the second game, he was two points behind at the break.