After an underwhelming second day at the Denmark Open, Indian shuttlers have fought their way back on the third day. Although the Indian contingent have had a mixed bag day but their talisman, PV Sindhu has progressed to the quarterfinals of the prestigious tournament.
Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu has defeated Thailand’s Busanan Ongbamrungphan in a gruelling encounter to reach the last eight of the tournament held in Odense, Denmark. While Sindhu fought her way to winning the first game, Busanan came roaring back to take the second game. The decider was also intense but the Indian shuttler held her nerve and made her way through to the quarterfinals. Sindhu finally won by a 1-16, 12-21, 21-15 scoreline in a match that lasted for 67 minutes.
Sindhu was dominant in the first game as she won ten points in a row and wrapped the game up in her second game point. However, the Thai shuttler restored parity by winning the second game. Sindhu looked a little rusty as she made some unforced errors allowing her opponent to come back in the game.
The decider saw Sindhu win the first four points but it swung both ways as Busanan also fought hard for every point. Lastly, Sindhu managed to wrap it all up by winning the third game.
Sindhu will now face South Korea’s AN Seyoung, who currently holds the World No. 8 rank. The South Korean defeated Evgeniya Kosetskaya of Russia in straight games 21-9, 21-11. This is Sindhu’s first tournament after she won the bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics.
However, Srikanth Kidambi’s journey at the Denmark Open ended after he was defeated by World No. 1 and top seed Kento Momota. The Indian shuttlers fought valiantly in the first game but it was not enough to get past his Japanese opponent. Momota won the match 23-21, 21-9 to progress to the next round of the Denmark Open. This was Srikanth Kidambi’s consecutive tenth defeat against the Japanese opponent.
The day also ended in disappointment for the Indian doubles pairing of Dhruv Kapila and N Sikki Reddy. The Indian pair failed to reach the quarterfinals as they were defeated by Chun Man Tang and Ying Suet Tse from Hong Kong. The Indians lost 21-17, 19-21, 21-11 despite their strong fight.
