India’s two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu continued her impressive run at the Arctic Open 2026, defeating Japan’s Riko Gunji in straight games to secure a place in the women’s singles quarter-finals on Thursday.
The sixth-seeded Indian registered a convincing 21-15, 21-15 victory in 49 minutes at the BWF Super 500 tournament. Sindhu will next face top seed and former world champion Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand on Friday.
Despite the comfortable scoreline, Gunji challenged Sindhu in both games. The opening game remained closely contested until 15-15, when the Indian star raised her intensity and claimed six consecutive points to move ahead.
A similar situation unfolded in the second game, with both players level at 13-13. Sindhu once again dominated the closing stages, collecting eight of the next 10 points to complete the victory.
However, a difficult challenge awaits Sindhu in the quarter-finals against Ratchanok, who holds a commanding 9-4 head-to-head advantage.
The Thai shuttler has won their previous five meetings, including their most recent encounter at the 2022 Indonesia Masters, where she secured a 21-12, 21-10 victory.
Sindhu will be looking to reverse that record, having already claimed the Japan Open Super 750 title in July by defeating world champion Akane Yamaguchi.
Ratchanok, meanwhile, won the Malaysia Masters Super 500 in May, overcoming China’s Chen Yufei in the final.
The Thai star advanced to the quarter-finals after defeating India’s Tanvi Sharma 21-18, 21-7 in 34 minutes.
Tanvi offered strong resistance in the opening game, staying level until 17-17, but Ratchanok’s experience proved decisive. The second game was largely one-sided as the top seed raced ahead and sealed victory.
In men’s singles, India’s campaign came to an end after Tharun Mannepalli suffered a 21-14, 21-19 defeat against second seed Christo Popov of France.
Tharun’s exit followed the opening-round defeats of Kidambi Srikanth, HS Prannoy and Rounak Chouhan.
However, India enjoyed success in men’s doubles, where Krishna Prasad Garaga and Pruthvi Krishnamurthy Roy defeated England’s Oliver Butler and Samuel Jones 21-19, 22-20.
The Indian pair, who had earlier stunned fifth-seeded Chinese duo He Ji Ting and Ren Xiang Yu, will meet Denmark’s Christian Faust Kjær and Rasmus Kjær in Friday’s quarter-finals.
With Sindhu and the men’s doubles pair progressing, India will have two opportunities to reach the semi-finals of the Arctic Open.
