Sydney: Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu and teenager Tanvi Sharma sailed into the quarterfinals of the women’s singles event at the Australian Badminton Open tournament here on Thursday.
World No. 10 Sindhu got the better of her younger compatriot and world No. 39 Isharani Baruah 22-20, 21-12 in 42 minutes. She will face Chinese Taipei’s Chen Su-yu in the quarter-finals for a place in her second semi-final of the year after the Malaysia Open.
The third-seeded Indian survived a challenge from Isharani in a tie-break opening game before dominating the second to book her spot in the quarter-finals.
Elsewhere, Tanvi Sharma registered a convincing 21-13, 21-15 win over senior compatriot Malvika Bansod in another all-Indian contest.
The win propelled the 17-year-old Tanvi into her second quarterfinal of the year. She will face three-time world champion and top seed Akane Yamaguchi of Japan in a daunting quarter-final match.
In another action, Tanya Hemanth’s campaign came to an end after a 12-21, 15-21 loss to the second seed and world No. 8 Pornpawee Chochuwong of Thailand.
In the men’s doubles, MR Arjun and Hariharan Amsakarunan stayed alive with a comfortable 21-17, 21-7 win against Michael Owen and Dylan Soedjasa of New Zealand.
Arjun and Hariharan are the only Indians remaining in the men’s doubles discipline after Achutaditya Rao Doddavarapu and Arjun Reddy Pochana suffered an exit after losing 21-15, 21-15 to the local pair of Kanki Igawa and Ooi Ye Hern in the opening round.
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty, India’s top-ranked doubles team, skipped the BWF Super 500 meet on account of the shoulder injury Satwik suffered last week in Indonesia.
India’s mixed doubles challenge at the Australian Badminton Open ended after Dhruv Rawat and Manisha Keer lost 21-19, 21-18 to Japan’s Akira Koga and Natsu Saito.
(IANS)
