Badminton Asia Championships 2023: PV Sindhu made it to the quarterfinals

Two-time Olympic medalist PV Sindhu on Thursday stormed into the women's singles quarter-finals of the Badminton Asia Championships 2023 with a straight-game win over China's Han Yue at Sheikh Rashid Bin Hamdan Indoor Hall in Dubai.

Also Read: Happy Birthday Sindhu: All the records held by PV Sindhu

Sindhu defeated Han Yue 21-12 21-15 in just 33 minutes in a one-sided Badminton Asia Championships 2023 pre-quarterfinal match. The 27-year-old Sindhu was trailing 1-3 but managed to level the score at 3-3 with her Chinese opponent. She again opened up a two-point lead but Han Yue reduced it to 5-4. Sindhu won three more points in a row to open up a lead and though Han Yue narrowed the gap to 6-8, the Indian won five points in a row to lead 12-6 and win the first game 21-12.

In the second game, Sindhu fought back from 3-3 down to lead 6-4. The score was again tied at 8-8 but Sindhu played steady. She did not give much chance to the Chinese player and won the game and the match 21-15. Eighth seed Sindhu will take on second seed An Seyoung of South Korea in the quarterfinals.

On the other hand, India's star shuttler HS Prannoy also made it to the men's singles quarterfinals. But compatriot Kidambi Srikanth's journey ended in the Badminton Asia Championships 2023. Eighth seed Prannoy beat Indonesia's Chico Aura Dwi Wardoyo 16-21 21-5 18-21 in one hour and two minutes. While Kidambi Srikanth lost 21-14, 20-22, 21-9 against fourth seed Kodai Naraoka of Japan in the pre-quarterfinals. Prannoy will next face Japan's Kanta Tsuneyama.

Meanwhile, the top men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty also advanced to the men's doubles quarterfinals with a straight-game win over South Korea's Jin Yong and Na Sung Seung in their pre-quarterfinal encounter. The Indian pair defeated the Korean pair 21-13, 21-11. While in the mixed doubles, the pair of Rohan Kapoor-N Sikki Reddy also entered the quarterfinals. They defeated four-seeded Korean pair Seo Seung-Jae and Yujung Chae.

However, in the Badminton Asia Championships 2023 mixed doubles draw, India's BS Reddy and Ashwini Ponnappa lost 21-15, 21-17 to the Chinese Taipei pair of Chang Ko-Chi and Lee Chin Chen. The young women's doubles pair of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand is also out. They gave a walkover to sixth seeds Jeong Na Eun and Kim Hye Jeong of South Korea in their Round of 16 encounter.