P. V. Sindhu advanced to the quarterfinals with a win in the women’s singles but it was K. Srikanth, who created a flutter at the $300,000 Singapore Super Series, with a stunning victory over world No. 10 Tien Minh Nguyen of Vietnam on Thursday.
The 18-year-old Sindhu prevailed over Japan’s Shizuka Uchida 21-17, 17-21, 21-16 in a women’s singles match. Another Indian youngster, B. Sai Praneeth too made the last eight stage by registering a straight-game win over Zi Liang Derek Wong of Singapore.
World No. 50 Sai Praneeth prevailed over his opponent from Singapore, ranked 43rd, 24-22, 21-19 in a match that lasted 39 minutes.
After three first round exits in the All England, Swiss Open and India Super Series, Srikanth finally got his form back as he notched up an upset 18-21, 21-15, 21-8 win over the world championship bronze medallist.
In the men’s doubles competition, Alwin Francis and Arun Vishnu were defeated by the top-seeded Indonesian combo of Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan 21-17, 24-22.
The results: Men: Singles: Second round: K. Srikanth bt Tien Minh Nguyen 18-21, 21-15, 21-8. First round: Dong Keun Lee bt P. Kashyap 16-21, 21-15, 22-20; B. Sai Praneeth beat Zi Liang Derek Wong 24-22, 21-19.
Doubles: Second round: Mohammad Ahsan & Hendra Setiawan bt Alwin Francis & Arun Vishnu 21-17, 24-22.
Women: Singles: Second round: P.V. Sindhu bt Shizuka Uchida 21-17, 17-21, 21-16; Wang Yihan bt P.C.
Thulasi 21-9, 21-5
Mixed doubles: Second round: Gideon Markus Fernaldi & Rizki Amelia Pradipta bt Arun Vishnu & Aparna Balan 21-23, 17-21.