PV Sindhu, Lakshya Sen sail into French Open quarters; Verma brothers crash out

PV Sindhu and Lakshya Sen sailed into the quarter-finals at the French Open BWF Super 750 badminton tournament in Paris on Thursday.

Third seed PV Sindhu maintained her perfect record against Line Christophersen of Denmark with a comprehensive 21-19, 21-9 win. Tokyo Olympic bronze medallist Sindhu needed 37 minutes to brush aside Dane in the women’s singles second round encounter.

Sindhu was trailing initially by four points before she caught up with Line on the basis of aggressive style of display. Sindhu was marginally ahead 11-10 at the break in the first game. She managed to hold on to her slender lead to claim a well-contested first game 21-19.

In the second game there was one-way traffic as Sindhu steamrolled her opponent with powerful smashes and accurate placements. 21-year-old Line tried hard but failed to match an inspired Sindhu.

It was the second win in a row for Sindhu. She had beaten world No. 24 Line 21-8, 21-8 at the All England Open Badminton Championships earlier this year.

World No. 7 Sindhu will square off against eighth seed Busanan Ongbamrungphan of Thailand on Friday. She has a strong 13-1 head-to-head record against world No. 13 Busanan.

Lakshya Sen defeats Singapore’s Loh Kean Yew to avenge Dutch Open defeat

Lakshya Sen stormed into the men’s singles quarter-finals with a straight-game win over Singapore’s Loh Kean Yew. Lakshya thumped Singaporean Loh 21-17, 21-13 in 40 minutes.

Lakshya Sen beat Loh Kean Yew of Singapore 21-17, 21-13 to enter the quarter-finals

Lakshya Sen galloped to a 13-7 lead early on but Loh Kean Yew reeled off seven straight points to briefly take the lead. The Indian, however, didn’t allow his opponent to run away as he moved to a 17-16 lead and pocketed the game comfortably.

In the second game, Lakshya led 7-4 and even though Loh clawed back 8-8, Lakshya soon moved to 13-11. Twenty-year-old Lakshya sealed the fate of Loh with five consecutive points from 16-13.

A couple of weeks ago at the Dutch Open, Lakshya lost to Singaporean Loh Kean Yew 12-21, 16-21 in the final. Hence this victory was a sweet revenge for him.

World No. 22 Lakshya will face Korea’s Heo Kwanghee, who accounted for Chinese Taipei’s Wang Tzu Wei. World No. 35 Heo Kwang Hee had beaten Lakshya Sen at the Hyderabad Open in 2018.

Sameer Verma fails to capitalize on good start, retires against Indonesia’s Shesar

Sameer Verma captured the first game 21-16 but couldn’t complete his match against Indonesia’s Shesar Hiren Rhustavito. Reigning national champion Sourabh retired after losing the second game 12-21 due to an injury.

Sameer also retired from the Denmark Open quarter-finals last week after suffering a calf muscle injury.

Satwiksairaj-Ashwini give big scare to second seeds

The mixed doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Ashwini Ponnappa almost caused an upset of the day by stretching the second seeds. The world No. 24 Indian duo put up a gallant fight before losing 21-15, 17-21, 19-21 to Indonesian combination Praveen Jordan and Melati Daeva Oktavianti.

At the China Open in 2019, Satwik-Ashwini had shocked the Indonesians in three games. Had the Indians capitalized on their chances in the third game, they could have repeated the magic.

In an all-India men’s doubles second round outing, fifth seeds Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty will meet MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila.

India Results (Round 2)

Men’s singles

Lakshya Sen bt Loh Kean Yew (Singapore) 21-17, 21-13 (40 minutes)

Sameer Verma lost to Shesar Hiren Rhustavito (Indonesia) 16-21 21-12 (Retired) (32 minutes)

Sourabh Verma lost to Kenta Nishimoto (Japan) 12-21, 9-21 (37 minutes)

Women’s singles

3-PV Sindhu bt Line Christophersen (Denmark) 21-19, 21-9 (37 minutes)

Mixed doubles

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Ashwini Ponnappa lost to 2-Praveen Jordan-Melati Daeva Oktavianti (Indonesia) 21-15, 17-21, 19-21 (52 minutes).