Sindhu, Lakshya Lead India's Charge Into Hylo Open Quarterfinals as Two Shuttlers Exit

Double Olympic medallist P V Sindhu continued her impressive run on the international circuit, storming into the women’s singles quarterfinals of the Hylo Open Super 500 badminton tournament with a dominant straight-game victory in Saarbrucken, Germany, on Thursday. India’s top-ranked men’s singles player Lakshya Sen also booked his place in the last eight, while compatriots Malvika Bansod and Isharani Baruah suffered second-round exits.

Second seed Sindhu needed just 26 minutes to defeat France’s Rosy Oktavia Pancasari 21-9, 21-6 in a completely one-sided contest. Fresh from her runner-up finish at the French Open, the former world champion controlled the match from the beginning, winning 42 of the 57 points played and allowing her opponent only 15.

Sindhu had earlier defeated Prakriti Bharath in the opening round. She will now face Germany’s Amalie Schulz in the quarterfinals as she looks to continue her strong run in the tournament.

Lakshya Sen, meanwhile, overcame compatriot Kiran George in a hard-fought three-game encounter to secure his quarterfinal spot. The Indian won 21-15, 18-21, 21-12 in a match lasting 54 minutes. After dropping the second game, Sen regained control in the decider to seal the victory.

However, it was the end of the road for Malvika Bansod and Isharani Baruah. Malvika lost 11-21, 17-21 to Canada’s Wen Yu Zhang in 31 minutes, while Isharani went down 14-21, 19-21 against eighth seed Line Hojmark Kjaersfeldt of Denmark in a 39-minute contest.

Meanwhile, sixth seed Unnati Hooda was scheduled to face Denmark’s Frederikke Ostergaard, while Anmol Kharb was set to take on third seed Line Christophersen, also of Denmark, in their respective women’s singles second-round matches.