Swiss Open: Srikanth, Sai Praneeth, Sindhu to lead India's charge in the quarter-finals

With eyes set on earning qualification points for the Tokyo Olympics, India's B Sai Praneeth registered an easy win to reach the quarter-finals of the Swiss Open on Thursday.

The fifth-seeded Indian dispatched World No.52 Pablo Abian 21-12, 21-17 in a thrilling encounter to make it to the last eight. Praneeth, a BWF World Championships bronze medallist, notched up easy wins in the first three rounds to book his place in the quarter-finals of the Super 300 tournament in Basel.

Praneeth, who finished as runner-up at the 2019 Swiss Open, will hope to continue his fine form against second-seed Lee Zii Jia on Friday.

Praneeth got the better of Isreal’s Misha Zilberman 21-11, 21-14 in the opening round and edged out Abian to book his first quarter-final ticket at tour level this year.

Sai Praneeth well-positioned for an Olympic qualification

Ranked 13th with 51,527 points, Praneeth looks well-positioned to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics. A Super 300 tournament title will see him climbing up the Olympics qualification ranking ladder. The top 16 in men's singles and the top 8 doubles pairs shall qualify with a maximum of two entries from each country, according to Olympic qualification rules.

Also Read: Swiss Open 2021: All you need to know about the Tokyo Olympic qualifying event

Men's singles shuttlers will continue to chase glory at Swiss Open quarters

Meanwhile, former Swiss Open champion Kidambi Srikanth overcame a second-game slump to beat World No.50 Thomas Rouxel 21-10, 14-21, 21-14 in a 52-minute encounter. Srikanth, seeded fourth, will square up against sixth-seed Kantaphon Wangcharoen in the quarter-finals of the Swiss Open Super 300 tournament.

Fellow Indian men's singles shuttler Ajay Jayaram brushed aside Denmark's Rasmus Gemke 21-18, 17-21, 21-13 to advance to the Swiss Open quarter-finals, where he will play three-time world junior champion Kunlavut Vitidsarn.

Rio Olympics silver medallist P V Sindhu will spearhead the Indian challenge in the women's singles quarter-finals on Friday. Psyched up to shuttle to a new high, Sindhu will look to continue her good run as she takes on fifth-seed Busanan Ongbamrungphan. She was clinical in her demolition of USA's Iris Wang yesterday, and sealed her spot in the quarters with a comfortable 21-13, 21-14 win.

After conceding a tight second game, the men's doubles pairing of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty made a quick recovery in the third. The duo defeated the unseeded Indonesian pair of Pramudya Kusumawardana and Yeremia Erich Yoche Yacob Rambitan 21-17, 22-20, 21-17 to sail into the quarters.

It was a double delight for Satwik as he sealed a second quarter-final spot, teaming up with Ashwini Ponnappa in the mixed doubles category. The Indian duo produced a commanding performance to oust Indonesia's lower-ranked Rinov Rivaldy and Pitha Haningtyas Mentari 21-18, 21-16 in what turned out to be a thrilling 38-minute battle.

Also Read: PV Sindhu, Kidambi Srikanth enter Swiss Open quarterfinals; Ajay Jayaram ousts 3rd seed