PV Sindhu L and Kidambi Srikanth. Picture Credit: Twitter
Indian ace shuttlers PV Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth registered comprehensive victories at the Swiss Open Super 300 badminton tournament on Thursday. Meanwhile Ajay Jayaram pulled off an epic win in the second round, whereas India’s duo of Satwik Rankireddy and Ashwini Ponnappa also continued their scintillating form.
Easy outing for Sindhu, Srikanth wins a hard-fought contest
Second-seeded PV Sindhu had a very comfortable outing during her second round match in Basel, Switzerland. She ousted USA's Iris Wang 21-13, 21-14 to set up a quarter-final meeting with Thailand’s Busanan Ongbamrungphan.
On the other hand, former World No. 1 Kidambi Srikanth had to fight hard against his French oppenent Thomas Rouxel. The 28-year-old clinched the three-set thriller 21-10, 14-21, 21-14. 4th seeded Srikanth will face 6th seeded Kantaphon Wangcharoen in the highly-anticipated QF clash.
Jayaram pulls off an upset, Satwiksairaj-Ashwini impress again
Apart from wins for Sindhu and Srikanth, it was Ajay Jayaram who stole the show on Thursday. The 33-year-old produced a heroic effort as he remarkable defeated 3rd seeded Rasmus Gemke 21-18, 17-21, 21-13 in a nail-biting contest. He will now face Thailand’s Kunlavut Vitidsarn in the quarters, who defeated India’s Sourabh Verma 21-17, 21-14 in the second round.
On the other hand, India’s mixed-pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Ashwini Ponnappa also continued their scintillating run of form. They defeated the Indonesian pair of Rinov Rivaldy and Pitha Haningtyas Mentari 21-18, 21-16 in the second round match. The Indian duo will face the 5th seeded Malaysian pair of Tan Kian Meng and Lai Pei Jing in a tough quarter-final clash.
Earlier, two-time champion Saina Nehwal was knocked out of the tournament after losing to Thailand’s Phittayaporn Chaiwan 16-21, 21-17, 21-23. In the men's singles, Parupalli Kashyap lost to Spain's Pablo Abian 15-21, 10-21 while Lakshya Sen also succumbed to a 16-21, 12-21 defeat at the hands of Victor Svendsen in the first round. Meanwhile, men's doubles pair of MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila had also bowed down 16-21, 18-21 to the Russian duo of Vladimir Ivanov and Ivan Sozonov.