PV Sindhu Moves To Pre-quarters, Lakshya Sen Bows Out Of Kumamoto Masters Japan

Double Olympic medallist PV Sindhu sailed into pre-quarterfinals but Lakshya Sen me an opening-round exit from Kumamoto Masters Japan Super 500 tournament on Wednesday.

World number 20 Sindhu brushed aside Thailand’s Busanan Ongbamrungphan, ranked 11, 21-12, 21-18 in 38 minutes in a one-sided first round match.

She will take on Michelle Li of Cana in next round.

Sen squandered a one game vantage to go down 22-20 17-21 16-21 to Malaysia’s Leong Jun Hao in men’s singles round of 32 clash.

Paris Olympics semifinalist held a slim le in decider before Hao took control. With score reing 17-16, both shuttlers were fighting tooth and nail but Hao won last five points in a row to emerge victorious.
Earlier, Sindhu began sluggishly, quickly falling behind 1-5, but Indian shuttler, who has been grappling with poor form, regained her composure with a series of clever drop shots, making a strong comeback to take a narrow 11-10 le at break.

Having gained momentum, Sindhu extended her vantage as eighth seeded Busanan committed back-to-back unforced errors.

Sindhu n took control, winning seven consecutive points to seal first game with a cross-court half smash.
She started second game aggressively, racing to a 4-0 le before Thai shuttler registered her first point.

Sindhu’s dominance continued as she claimed 11 of last 12 points, cruising to an easy victory.

With win, Sindhu extended her commanding he-to-he record over Thai shuttler to 19-1.

With exit of Sen, Sindhu is lone Indian in contention. women’s doubles pair of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand h also me a first round exit, on Tuesday.