PV Sindhu, Kidambi Srikanth Advance to Quarter-Finals In Australian Open

Last updated on October 11th, 2023 at 12:48 pm

In the second round of the Australian Open 2023 Super 500 badminton tournament, Indian players displayed a strong performance in Sydney. 

PV Sindhu, Kidambi Srikanth, and Priyanshu Rajawat advanced to the quarter-finals in the singles category, while Mithun Manjunath put on an impressive performance despite bowing out from the tournament.

PV Sindhu, the two-time Olympic medalist, defeated Akarshi Kashyap, another Indian shuttler, in a convincing manner with a score of 21-14, 21-10 in just 38 minutes. 

She will now face Beiwen Zhang from the USA in the quarter-finals. Sindhu enjoys a favorable head-to-head record against Zhang, but she will be challenged by the American player’s good form in the current season.

Kidambi Srikanth secured a spot in the quarter-finals by defeating Su Li Yang of Chinese Taipei in straight games. 

He will meet Priyanshu Rajawat, who managed to beat Wang Tzu Wei of Chinese Taipei in a hard-fought match lasting 59 minutes, in the quarter-finals.

Unfortunately, Mithun Manjunath, World No. 50, lost a tough battle against Malaysia’s Lee Zii Jia in the second round. Despite his valiant effort, Manjunath was defeated 13-21, 21-12, 19-21.

Later in the tournament, Kiran George and HS Prannoy will also compete in their second-round matches of the men’s singles, along with the women’s doubles pair of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand.

Commonwealth Games 2022 bronze medalists Jolly-Gopichand face Japan’s Mayu Matsumoto and Wakana Nagahara in the women’s doubles second round match. 

Mixed doubles teams B Sumeeth Reddy-Ashwini Ponnappa and Rohan Kapoor-Sikki Reddy crashed out, while singles shuttlers Malvika Bansod, Ashmita Chaliha, and Tasnim Mir suffered opening round defeats.

The Indian badminton players are performing excellently in the Australian Open, with PV Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth. Thus they confidently advanced to the quarter-finals. 

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Their performances have drawn the attention of badminton fans. However the competition is likely to be thrilling as the tournament progresses.