Srikanth, Prannoy, Chirag-Satwik enter Indonesia Open quarters; Sindhu bows out

It was a bittersweet day for India afterKidambi Srikanth and HS Prannoy registered straight game wins to advance to the mens singles quarterfinals even as it was curtains for double Olympic medallist PV Sindhu at the Indonesia Open World Tour Super 1000 event on ThursdayTaking the court first Srikanth used his vast experience to quell the challenge of Lakshya Sen 2117 2220 in an allIndian second round duelIt was a hardfought battle between the two Indians but Srikanth bagged the crucial moments with his calmness and experience to prevail over Lakshya in the match that lasted 45 minutesThe win ensured Srikanths dominance over his younger compatriot as he took his headtohead record to 30 over LakshyaSeventh seed Prannoy then took just 43 minutes to get the better of Angus Ng Ka Long of Hong Kong 2118 2116However world number 14 Sindhu made an early exit once again losing 2118 2116 to her nemesis and world number 3 Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei in a womens singles second round matchSindhu had made opening round exits in the last two eventsAlso Read Sindhus form not a concern she remains one of Indias best Coach GopichandTai Tzu seeded third has been the opponent Sindhu had struggled against the most in the international arena and it was no better here with the Chinese Taipei shuttler enhancing her headtohead record over the Indian to a staggering 195Sindhu and Tai Tzus most recent meeting was at the 2023 Sudirman Cup where the Chinese Taipei player won 2114 1821 2117With Sindhus loss the Indian challenge came to an end in the womens singles eventEarlier in the day contrary to the final result it was Lakshya who started on a positive note taking an early 40 lead in the opening game before Srikanth clawed his way backIt was evensteven till 17 points before Srikanth came out attacking and used the court to great effect to tire out his younger rival and win four straight points to pocket the first gameThe second game was no different as both shuttlers matched each other till 13 points before Srikanth won six straight points to surge ahead to 2014But the 2021 world championships silver medallist squandered six match points as Lakshya bounced back in style to draw level at 20 apieceSrikanth however had the last laugh as he kept his composure to win the next two points and seal the affairSrikanth will next play Li Shi Feng of China who upset fourth seed Loh Kean Yew of Singapore 2119 2114 in another second round match while Prannoy will face third seed Kodai Naraoka of Japan in the last eight roundRising Indian shuttler Priyanshu Rajawats campaign ended in prequarters as he went down fighting to the world No 2 and home favourite Anthony Ginting 2220 1521 1521 in one hour and three minutesEarlier Birmingham Commonwealth Games champion and world No 5 mens doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Ranikreddy and Chirag Shetty sailed past Chinas He Ji Ting and Zhou Hao Dong 2117 2115 in 46 minutesThe Indian seventh seed will be up against top seeds Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto in the quarterfinalsWith PTI inputs