NEW DELHI: Twin Olympic medallist PV Sindhu moved comfortably into the women’s singles quarterfinals of the Singapore Open Super 750 badminton tournament on Thursday after a dominant straight-game victory. Sindhu defeated Japan’s Riko Gunji 21-9, 21-12 in just 37 minutes, barely giving her opponent any chance to settle into the contest. The Indian star looked sharp from the start and controlled the pace throughout the match with aggressive play and accurate shot placement. The win keeps Sindhu’s campaign alive in the prestigious USD 1,000,000 tournament, but the competition is set to get much tougher from here. In the quarterfinals, she will face top seed An Se Young of South Korea, who is considered one of the strongest players on the circuit right now. The upcoming clash is expected to be a major test for the Indian shuttler as she aims for a deep run in the tournament.India’s top men’s doubles pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty had to work much harder for their place in the quarterfinals. The fourth-seeded duo defeated Chinese Taipei’s Lee Jhe-Huei and Yang Po-Hsuan 21-15, 11-21, 21-18 in an intense one-hour battle. They will now face Malaysia’s Khai Xing Kang and Aaron Tai next.In mixed doubles, Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto also reached the last eight after fighting back from a poor start to beat Japan’s Yuta Watanabe and Maya Taguchi in three games.
