Sindhu, Prannoy sail into singles quarterfinals; India suffer setback in doubles

HANGZHOU: Two-time Olympic medallist Indian shuttler PV Sindhu and HS Prannoy sailed into the quarterfinals of the women's and men's singles badminton with straight game wins at the Asian Games here on Wednesday.

Former world champion Sindhu won the round of 16 match against Putri Kusuma Wardani 21-16 21-16, sealing it in her favour without breaking a sweat against the hapless Indonesian.

Sindhu will line up against China's He Bingjiao in the quarterfinals, and will fancy her chances against the Chinese having denied her a medal at the Tokyo Olympics two years ago.

Bingjiao won 21-10 21-4 against Rasila Maharjan of Nepal.

Prannoy also booked his spot in the quarterfinals as he beat Kazakhstan's Dmitriy Panarin 21-12 21-13.

Sindhu was excellent in rallies and dictated terms to her opponent from the get-go, and so was Prannoy, India's best singles player at the moment who, unfortunately, could not feature in the team event final against China owing to an injury. However, Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand were knocked out in the round of 16 by Korean pair of Kim Soyeong and Kong Heeyong. The Koreans won 21-15, 18-21, 21-13. Earlier, India’s Tanisha Crasto and Sai Pratheek Krishna Prasad were also bowed out in the Round of 16 after defeats to Malaysia’s Toh Ee Wei and Chen Tang Jie. The Malaysian duo won 21-18, 21-18.