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Kidambi Srikanth, PV Sindhu, and men’s doubles pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty progressed to the Korea Open quarter-finals at the Palma Stadium in Suncheon on Thursday.
However, in-form Indian shuttlers Lakshya Sen and Malvika Bansod bowed out of the BWF World Tour Super 500 tournament.
Third seed Sindhu notched up a clinical victory over Japan's Aya Ohori in the women’s singles second round to book her place in the last eight.
Sindhu, who captured the Swiss Open title last month, outclassed Ohori 21-15, 21-10 to maintain a clean slate against the Japanese player.
World No. 7 Sindhu did not have to stretch much in dismissing world No. 26 Ohori. In both the games, she dominated her rival from the beginning and did not give her any chance of staging a comeback.
Sindhu displayed powerful smashes and excellent net play to oust Ohori. With yet another win, she took her head-to-head count against the Japanese to a whopping 12-0.
PV Sindhu to meet Busanan Ongbamrungphan of Thailand in Korea Open quarters
Double Olympic medalist PV Sindhu will next take on a familiar foe in Thailand’s Busanan Ongbamrungphan for a spot in the Korea Open semi-finals on Friday.
The former world champion defeated Busanan in the final of the Swiss Open last month.
Sindhu, who has claimed two Super 300 titles this season at the Syed Modi International and Swiss Open, has a 16-1 head-to-head record against the world No. 11 Thai player.
Kidambi Srikanth makes light work of Israel’s Misha Zilberman in Korea Open
Kidambi Srikanth cruised to a 21-18, 21-6 victory over Misha Zilberman of Israel within 33 minutes.
Fifth seed Srikanth overcame a rusty start to hand Zilberman a crushing defeat in the men’s singles second-round encounter. It was Srikanth’s second straight win over the world No. 50 in as many meetings.
Srikanth will now lock horns with Son Wanho of Korea on Friday. The world No. 78 enjoys an impressive 7-4 head-to-head record against Srikanth. The experienced Korean has also won the last three encounters against the Indian star.
Meanwhile, World Championship bronze medalist Lakshya Sen’s run ended with a straight-game loss to lower-ranked Shesar Hiren Rhustavito of Indonesia.
The world No. 9 Sen went down 20-22, 9-21 in the men’s singles second round. The World No. 24 Rhustavito needed 33 minutes to shock sixth-seeded Sen.
Malvika Bansod loses to Thailand’s Pornpawee Chochuwong for third time
Malvika Bansod also failed to move up as the Nagpur shuttler was beaten by Thailand’s Pornpawee Chochuwong 8-21, 14-21 in a second-round women’s singles outing.
World No. 10 Chochuwong needed 39 minutes to hand Bansod her third consecutive defeat in as many meetings in a year.
World No. 65 Bansod overcame a poor start to offer a semblance of a fight in the second game. However, the 20-year-old southpaw found her higher-ranked opponent too strong to handle.
On Tuesday, Bansod rallied back strongly to post a brilliant 20-22, 22-20, 21-10 win over world No. 24 Han Yue of China in the first round.
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty move up to Korea Open quarters
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty staved off a late fightback to down Hee Yong Kai Terry and Loh Kean Hean of Singapore 21-15, 21-19 in the men’s doubles.
The third-seeded Indian pair took 36 minutes to get the better of the world No. 75 Singaporeans. World No. 7 Rankireddy and Shetty defeated the same pair on their way to triumph at the Indian Open Super 500 tournament earlier this year.
The curtains were also drawn for the mixed doubles pair of Sumeeth Reddy and Ashwini Ponnappa. The experienced duo fought hard but eventually went down 20-22, 21-18, 14-21 to the fifth-seeded Chinese combination Ou Xuan Yi and Huang Ya Qiong in a grueling battle.
Indian Results at Korea Open (Round 2)
Men’s singles
5-Kidambi Srikanth bt Misha Zilberman (Israel) 21-18, 21-6 (33 minutes)
6-Lakshya Sen lost to Shesar Hiren Rhustavito (Indonesia) 20-22, 9-21 (33 minutes)
Women’s singles
3-PV Sindhu bt Aya Ohori (Japan) 21-15, 21-10 (37 minutes)
Malvika Bansod lost to 6-Pornpawee Chochuwong (Thailand) 8-21, 14-21 (39 minutes)
Men’s doubles
3-Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty bt Hee Yong Kai Terry-Loh Kean Hean (Singapore) 21-15, 21-19 (36 minutes)
MR Arjun-Dhruv Kapila lost to 2-Mohammad Ahsan-Hendra Setiawan (Indonesia) 5-8 (Retired) (8 minutes)
Mixed doubles
B Sumeeth Reddy-Ashwini Ponnappa lost to 5-Ou Xuan Yi-Huang Ya Qiong (China) 20-22, 21-18, 14-21 (54 minutes).
Quarter-final line-up for Korea Open
Men’s singles
5-Kidambi Srikanth vs Son Wanho (Korea)
Women’s singles
3-PV Sindhu vs 7-Busanan Ongbamrungphan (Thailand)
Men’s doubles
3-Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty vs Kang Minhyuk-Seo Seungjae (Korea).
