Star Indian shuttlers PV Sindhu, HS Prannoy and Kidambi Srikanth booked their places in the quarter-finals of the Malaysia Masters Super 500 tournament with contrasting wins over their respective rivals here on Thursday.
While double Olympic medallist and sixth seed Sindhu disposed of Aya Ohori of Japan in straight games in women’s singles, Prannoy had to dig deep to get the better of Shi Feng Li of China in a tough three-game contest.
Later in the day, Srikanth prevailed over India Open champion and eighth seed Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand.
Taking the court first, world No. 13 Sindhu extended her domination over Ohori, ranked 28th, taking just 40 minutes to beat the Japanese 21-16, 21-11 in the round of 16. It was her 13th win over the Japanese in as many meetings.
World No. 9 Prannoy then overcame a game deficit to beat reigning All England champion Li 13-21, 21-16, 21-11 in one hour and 10 minutes.
Coming into the match with a 0-3 head-to-head record, Srikanth notched up a 21-19, 21-19 win over Vitidsarn to also make it to the quarter-finals. Lakshya Sen, however, lost to Angus Ng Ka Long of Hong Kong 14-21, 19-21.