Indonesia Open: Sai Praneeth, Sindhu in quarters

Two-time Olympic medallist Sindhu hardly broke a sweat to win the second round clash 21-12,21-18 against world No. 26 Germany's Yvonne Li in 37 minutes at the $850,000 event.

Bali: Top Indian shuttlers PV Sindhu and B Sai Praneeth progressed to the quarterfinals but former champion Kidambi Srikanth made an early exit in the second round of the Indonesia Open Super 1000 tournament here on Thursday.

Two-time Olympic medallist Sindhu hardly broke a sweat to win the second round clash 21-12,21-18 against world No. 26 Germany’s Yvonne Li in 37 minutes at the $850,000 event. In the women’s singles quarterfinals, the reigning world champion, seeded third, will face South Korea’s Sim Yujin.

Praneeth staved off a spirited fight from France’s world No. 70 Christo Popov, claiming a 21-17,14-21,21-19 win in a gruelling match that lasted an hour and 23 minutes. The world No. 16 Indian will meet Olympic champion and former world no No. Viktor Axelsen of Denmark next.

The second seeded Axelsen, a world champion, ended the campaign of Srikanth, beating him 21-14,21-18 in 37 minutes. The sixth seeded men’s pairing of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty also survived a scare against Korea’s Kang Minhyuk and Seo Seungjae, prevailing 21-15.19-21,23-21 in a thrilling contest to also make it to the last eight.

The Indian pair, ranked 11, will square off against Malaysian combination of Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzuddin. Up against Li for the first time, world No. 7 Sindhu looked completely in control from the beginning. Such was her dominance that the two-time Olympic medallist took the first game with ease, winning seven consecutive points at one stage.

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