Sindhu, Prannoy advance to quarterfinals of Singapore Open

Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu and in-form HS Prannoy stormed into yet another quarterfinals after registering fighting wins at the Singapore Open Super 500 badminton tournament here on Thursday.

Third seed Sindhu staved off a spirited challenge from Vietnam’s world number 59 Thuy Linh Nguyen 19-21 21-19 21-18 in the women’s singles competition to set up a clash with China’s Han Yue.

Prannoy ranked world number 19, notched up his second win in three weeks over world number four and third seed Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei 14-21 22-20 21-18 in an hour and nine-minute contest.

The 29-year-old Indian, who is looking to break his five-year-old title run, will face Japan’s Kodai Naraoka next.

A day after notching up an upset win over compatriot Kidambi Srikanth, Mithun Manjunath’s run ended with a fighting 10-21 21-18 16-21 loss to Ireland’s Nhat Nguyen.

Ashmita Chaliha, who had defeated Thailand’s Busanan Ongbamrungphan, also couldn’t proceed further in the tournament, losing 9-21 13-21 to Han Yue of China.

Saina Nehwal, a two-time Commonwealth Games gold medallist, and the upcoming men’s doubles pairing of MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila are also in fray later in the day.