How Did Sindhu and Lakshya Perform in the Indonesia Masters?
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Key Takeaways
Jakarta, Jan 22 (NationPress) Former world champion PV Sindhu and Paris Olympic semi-finalist Lakshya Sen have advanced to the quarter-finals of the Indonesia Masters following comfortable victories in their second-round matches here on Thursday.
Sindhu achieved a score of 21-19, 21-18 against Denmark's Line Kjaerfeldt in a match that lasted 43 minutes, while Lakshya triumphed with a score of 21-10, 21-11 over Hong Kong's Jason Gunawan, taking just over half an hour.
This victory marks Sindhu's sixth triumph over Kjaerfeldt in their seven encounters, with her only defeat occurring at last year's Sudirman Cup.
Next, Sindhu will compete against the tournament's top seed and world No. 4, Chen Yu Fei from China. The two athletes have faced each other 13 times, with Chen leading the series 7-6.
On Wednesday, the two-time Olympic medallist Sindhu, who is currently India's highest-ranked women's singles player at No. 13, defeated Japan's world No. 35, Manami Suizu, with scores of 22-20, 21-18 after 53 minutes to secure her spot in the pre-quarterfinals.
Meanwhile, Lakshya, who won against world No. 23 Wang Tzu Wei of Chinese Taipei with scores of 21-13, 16-21, 21-14 in his opening match on Wednesday, will face Panitchaphon Teeraratsakul of Thailand in the quarter-finals. Teeraratsakul recently caused an upset by defeating 2024 Paris Olympics contender Lee Zii Jia with scores of 15-21, 21-17, 21-8.
Former world No. 1 Kidambi Srikanth advanced to the round of 16 after a close match against Japan's Koki Watanabe, winning 21-15, 21-23, 24-22. He will be competing later today against Chou Tien Chen from Taipei. Anmol Kharb is set to face Nozomi Okuhara of Japan in the women's singles second round.
In unfortunate news, HS Prannoy, a bronze medallist at the World Championships, along with rising talent Tanvi Sharma, exited the BWF Super tournament after their first-round losses on Wednesday.
Additionally, Kiran George lost his men's singles opener in straight games to Indonesia’s Moh. Zaki Ubaidillah, with scores of 21-17, 21-14. Indian mixed doubles pairs Dhruv Kapila/Tanisha Crasto and Rohan Kapoor/Ruthvika Shivani Gadde also faced defeats in their opening matches.