Thailand Open: Sindhu is lone Indian in fray

BANGKOK: PV Sindhu is the lone surviving Indian shuttler at the Thailand Open as she sailed into the women’s singles quarter-finals here on Thursday.

The sixth-seeded Sindhu notched up a 21-16, 21-13 second-round win over Sim Yu Jin, who had played a pivotal role in Korea’s Uber Cup triumph last week.

Sindhu, who defeated USA’s Lauren Lam in her opener, will next face second seed Akane Yamaguchi (Japan).

But, it was curtains for Malvika Bansod as she went down 21-16, 14-21, 14-21 to Line Christopherson from Denmark. In the men’s singles draw, eighth seed Kidambi Srikanth exited from the Super 500 event after handing a walkover to his opponent – Nhat Nguyen of Ireland – in the second round. The reason for his withdrawal is not known yet.

In the mixed doubles competition, Ishaan Bhatnagar and Tanisha Crasto bowed out in the second round following a 19-21, 20-22 defeat to the sixth-seeded Malaysian combination of Goh Soon Huat and Lai Shevon Jemie.

Meanwhile, in women’s doubles, the K Ashwini Bhat-Shikha Gautam duo crashed out in the second round, losing 19-21, 6-21 to the fifth-seeded pairing of Mayu Matsumoto and Wakana Nagahara (Japan).