P.V. Sindhu on Friday assured herself of a third World badminton championships as she stormed into the semifinals, to lift India’s spirit after K. Srikanth’s exit in the quarterfinals.
The Rio Olympics silver medallist, assured herself of at least a bronze with a clinical display against World No. 6 Chinese Sun Yu. The 22-year-old, who won bronze at the 2013 and 2014 editions, disposed off Sun Yu 21-14, 21-9 in 39 minutes at the Emirates Arena.
The World No. 4 Indian will next take on World No. 10 Chen Yufei, who saw off former champion Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand.
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Earlier, Srikanth went down fighting 21-14, 21-18 to World No. 1 Son Wan Ho of Korea in men’s singles competition.
The 24-year-old had come into the match with victories over Son Wan in June at the Indonesia Super Series Premier and Australia Super Series but it counted for little as the Korean dished out a near-perfect game to outclass the Indian in a 49-minute clash.
Son Wan-Ho will next face the legendary Lin Dan. The Chinese star, who won the last of his five world crowns in 2013, overcame Hong Kong’s Vincent Wong Wing Ki 21-17, 21-18. Denmark’s Viktor Axelsen also reached the last four.
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Sindhu dished out an aggressive game and never looked in doubt as she led from start to finish during the 39-minute lop-sided match against Sun, who was out of sorts and nervous.
The results: Men’s singles: Quarterfinals: Son Wan Ho (Kor) bt K. Srikanth 21-14, 21-18; Lin Dan (Chn) bt Vincent Wong Wing Ki (HK) 21-17, 21-1; Viktor Axelsen (Den) bt Chou Tien Chen (Tpe) 21-18, 20-22, 21-16.
Third round: Chou Tien Chen (Tpe) bt B. Sai Praneeth 19-21, 21-10, 21-12.
Women’s singles: Quarterfinals: P.V. Sindhu bt Sun Yu (Chn) 21-14, 21-9; Chen Yufei (Chn) bt Ratchanok Intanon (Tha) 14-21, 21-16, 21-12.
Third round: Saina Nehwal bt Sung Ji Hyun (Kor) 21-19, 21-15 .