Changzhou (China): Reigning World Champion PV Sindhu made an early exit from the China Open badminton tournament but B Sai Praneeth kept the Indian flag fluttering with a hard-fought straight-game win to reach the men’s singles quarterfinals here Thursday.
PV Sindhu, an Olympic silver medallist, squandered a first game advantage to go down 21-12, 13-21, 19-21 Thailand’s Pornpawee Chochuwong in a women’s singles pre-quarterfinal that lasted 58 minutes here. Prior to this match Sindhu had played against the Thai player three times and beaten her on all occasions.
B Sai Praneeth, who had claimed a bronze medal at Basel, edged out China’s Lu Guang Zu 21-19, 21-19 to set up a meeting against Indonesian seventh seed Anthony Sinisuka Ginting who beat Parupalli Kashyap 23-21, 15-21, 21-12 in a thrilling contest.
PTI