PV Sindhu continued her good run at the Badminton Asia Championships to enter the quarterfinals of the continental event, while Ajay Jayaram crashed out in the second round of men’s event in Wuhan, China, on Thursday.
Sindhu, the Rio Olympics silver medallist, ran through Japan’s Aya Ohori in straight games in the second-round match. The 21-year-old World No. 3 won 21-14, 21-15. She will take on He Bingjiao of China in the quarterfinals.
Sindhu had beaten Dinar Dyah Ayustine of Indonesia 21-8, 21-18 in the opening round on Wednesday, takeing just 31 minutes at the Wuhan Sports Center Gymnasium.
In the men’s segment, Jayaram , who had stunned Chinese fifth seed Tian Houwei in thef rist round lost to Chinese Taipei’s Hsu Jen-hao 19-21, 10-21. The World No 13 Indian put up a good fight in the opening game but folded rather meekly to the Taipei shuttlers power strokes in the second game.
Barring Sindhu’s good run, India has, so far, had a disappointing outing at the Asian event.
{{/usCountry}}Barring Sindhu’s good run, India has, so far, had a disappointing outing at the Asian event.
{{/usCountry}}On Wednesday, Saina Nehwal, who has two bronze medals from the continent’s marquee event, bowed out, beaten by Japan’s Sayaka Sato 21-19, 16-21, 18-21 in one hour and eight minutes.
In the mixed doubles category, Pranaav Jerry Chopra and N Sikki Reddy went down to top seeds Zheng Siwei and Chen Qingchen 15-21, 21-14, 16-21 in 50 minutes.
Sikki, partnering Ashwinin Ponnappa, also lost in the doubles competition to South Koreans Chae Yoo Jung and Kim So Yeong 20-22, 16-21 in 37 minutes.
The second Indian pair in women’s doubles -- J Meghana and Poorvisha S Ram -- crashed out against South Korean second seeds Jung Kyung Eun and Shin Seung Chan 11-21, 16-21.
The men’s doubles pair of Manu Attri and B. Sumeeth Reddy also suffered a loss in the opening round. They went down 9-21, 18-21 to Chinese fifth seeded combine of Fu Haifeng and Zhang Nan in 28 minutes.