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Asian Games: Sindhu, Prannoy, Rankireddy/Shetty only Indians to reach quarters
India's main hopes in badminton maintained their chances of finishing on the podium as PV Sindhu in women's singles, HS Prannoy in men's singles, and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty
Hangzhou: India's main hopes in badminton maintained their chances of finishing on the podium as PV Sindhu in women's singles, HS Prannoy in men's singles, and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty in men's doubles secured their place in the quarterfinals of the Asian Games badminton competitions here on Wednesday.
Sindhu defeated Indonesia's Wardani Putri Kusuma in straight games in a Round of 16 clash; Prannoy brushed aside Kazakhstan's Dmitriy Panarin in 29 minutes while Rankireddy and Shetty were taken to three games but emerged winners against Leo Rollycarnando and Daniel Marthin of Indonesia, 24-22, 16-21, 21-12 in 84 minutes.
However, the upcoming women's doubles pair of Treesa Jolly and Pullela Gayatri Gopichand exited the competition after a hard-fought battle against the reigning Olympic bronze medallist pair Soyeong Kim and Heeyong Kong, ranked third in the world, in 82 minutes. The Indian duo lost 15-21, 21-18, 13-21 in the pre-quarterfinals encounter.
Former World No.1 Kidambi Srikanth also crashed out, losing to Kodai Naraoka of Japan 16-21, 17-21 in 54 minutes.
The mixed doubles pair of Sai Pratheek and Tanisha Crasto lost to Malaysia's Tang Jie Chen and Ee Wei Toh, 18-21, 18-21.
Tanisha had no luck in the women's doubles too as she and Ashwini China's Zhang Shuxian and Yu Zheng, 13-21, 21-23.
Sindhu was the first Indian to take to the courts at the Binjiang Gymnasium and stayed on the court for nearly an hour as she won in straight games, 21-16, 21-16.
In the first game, Sindhu opened an early lead and did not have to sweat much, winning six points in a row as she went on to win the game 21-16.
In the second game, the Indonesian shuttler led 3-0 before Sindhu took control of the proceedings from 1-4 down to surge to a 9-4 lead. The 27-year-old Indian maintained her advantage and went on to win the game 21-16 to seal a place in the last-eight stage.
Prannoy was in and out of the court in a jiffy as he raced to victory in just 29 minutes.
