Thailand Open: Sindhu sails to quarters

Bangkok: Reigning badminton world champion PV Sindhu on Thursday entered the quarter-finals of the Toyota Thailand Open Super 1000 tournament with a straight-game win over Malaysia's Kisona Selvaduray.

Sindhu beat Selvaduray 21-10, 21-12 in a match that lasted 35 minutes. The Olympic silver medallist now faces either Thai fourth-seed Ratchanok Intanon, who beat former world no.1 Saina Nehwal in the first round, or South Korea's Hyung Ji Sung.

Earlier, men's doubles pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty progressed to the quarter-finals with a 21-18, 23-21 win over South Korean seventh seeded pair Sol Gyu Choi and Seung Jae Seo.

Sameer Verma on Thursday continued his stellar run as he eased past Denmark's Rasmus Gemke in straight games to enter the quarter-finals of the men's singles event. However, there was disappointment for HS Prannoy who fell to Malaysia's Liew Daren.

Verma defeated Gemke 21-12, 21-9 in the second-round contest that lasted for almost 40 minutes. He led the match from the start and took the opening game in less than 20 minutes. Having beaten the eighth seed Lee Zii Jia of Malaysia in the opening round, the world number 31 took his game a notch higher as he won the second game 21-9 to march into the last eight. Verma will now face world three Anders Antonsen for a place in the semi-finals.

Prannoy, on the other hand, suffered a 17-21, 18-21 defeat against Daren in his second-round match which stretched to 40 minutes.

In mixed doubles event, the Rankireddy and Ashwini Ponnappa secured their berth into the quarter-finals after beating Germany's Mark Lamsfuss and Isabel Herttrich in their second round contest.

Satwiksairaj and Ashwini defeated their German opponents 22-20, 14-21, 21-16 in a match that lasted for 56 minutes. The pair will now face Malaysia's Chan Peng Soon and Goh Liu Ying for a place in the semis.