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P.V. Sindhu of India pictured here during the Badminton Indian Open against Japan’s Hasimoto at Siri Fort Sports complex on April 26, 2013 in New Delhi. (Getty Images)
India’s PV Sindhu and Guru Sai Dutt entered the quarterfinals of the Malaysia Open GP Gold on Thursday, but their compatriots K Srikanth and Sameer Verma bowed out.
Sindhu faced some trouble from Cheung Ngan Yi of Hong Kong as she lost the first game in quick time, but the Indian, now ranked No.15, bounced back. From 12-all in the second game, she steadily piled on the pressure and jumped to 18-13. Although Cheung fought to within a couple of points, Sindhu closed out the game and was unchallenged in the decider, as she won 11-21 21-18 21-10.
The top seed faces seventh seed Hera Desi of Indonesia for a place in the semi-finals.
Guru Sai Dutt was equally impressive in a straight-games victory over Riichi Takeshita of Japan. The match was close all through, but the Indian was able to use his superior experience to hold off his Japanese challenger. Takeshita came close at 14-15 in the first game, but Guru Sai managed to keep ahead by a couple of points to win the first game. In the second, the Indian had to claw back from 10-15 down and won eight straight points from 13-16 to seal the match 21-19 21-16.
However, his compatriot K Srikanth, who caused a major upset last week by beating top-ten player Jan O Jorgensen in the first round of the India Open, could not match French Open champion Daren Liew of Malaysia. The Indian managed to save three match points in the second game from 17-20 down, but could not sustain the momentum as Liew beat him 21-17 22-20.
Sameer Verma too gave a good account of himself before falling to Chan Yan Kit of Hong Kong, 21-15 21-19. The second game was very tight, with Verma drawing level from a 12-16 deficit to tie the score at 19, before Chan edged past to take the match.
