Sindhu, Srikanth, Praneeth in quarters of Australia Open

Sydney (Australia): Kidambi Srikanth and B Sai Praneeth eked out thrilling victories in the men’s singles second round to set up an all-Indian quarterfinal clash at the USD 750,000 Australian Super Series here today.

Olympic silver medallist P V Sindhu also advanced to the quarterfinals of the women’s singles competition with a straight game win over China’s Chen Xiaoxin.

Srikanth, who had edged out Son Wan Ho in the semifinals of Indonesia Open last week, once again had an upper hand against the World No. 1 Korean, beating him 15-21 21-13 21-13 in a 57-minute clash.

In another match, Sai Praneeth staved off a challenge from China’s Huang Yuxiang 21-15 18-21 21-13 in a match that lasted 64 minutes.

Interestingly, Srikanth and Praneeth had clashed in the final of Singapore Open in April with the latter emerging victorious.

In the women’s singles, fifth seed Sindhu defeated Chen 21-13 21-18 in 46 minutes. She will clash with either Thailand’s Ratchanok Intanon or World No. 1 and top seed Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei.

In the women’s doubles, Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy fought well before suffering a 21-18 18-21 13-21 loss to seventh seeded Japanese pair of Shiho Tanaka and Koharu Yonemoto.

The men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty suffered a 16-21 18-21 loss to eighth seeded Chinese Taipei’s Chen Hung Ling and Wang Chi-Lin.