pv sindhu

In a thrilling match against the 14th-ranked Chen, Srikanth exhibited his exceptional skills with a combination of precise shot-making and strategic brilliance.

Lakshya Sen, however, kept alive his chances of winning another medal by reaching the pre-quarterfinals. The 22-year-old Lakshya defeated Jeon Hyeok-Jin of Republic of Korea 21-11, 21-12 in 36 minutes.

Sindhu, who won a silver medal in the Rio Olympic Games in 2016 and a bronze in Tokyo 2020, defeated compatriot Aakarshi Kashyap 21-14, 21-10 in a 29-minute encounter. Srikanth registered an equally comprehensive victory, beating Su Li Yang of Chinese Taipei 21-10, 21-17 in a second-round match in Court 3 at the Quaycentre in the BWF World Tour Super 500 event.

This is Sindhu's lowest ranking in over a decade. The last time she was ranked 17th in the women's singles category was in January, 2013. The 28-year old shuttler was world No. 12 in the standings last week. Sindhu, who achieved a career-best ranking of world No. 2 back in April 2017, started the 2023 season as the world No. 7 women’s singles player but has slipped down the list after enduring a poor run of form in the few months.

Two-time Olympic medallist Sindhu registered an easy 21-14, 21-12 win over Sung Shuo Yun of the Chinese Taipei in the Round of 16 women's singles. Lakshya, meanwhile, beat the Czech Republic’s Jan Louda 21-8, 23-21 in his men's singles second-round match.

The ace Indian shuttler made it to the final of the Spain Masters BWF Super 500 tournament in April but is yet to win a title this year. Sindhu will be up against her rival and reigning world champion Akane Yamaguchi of Japan in the semifinals. Sindhu leads world No. 1 Yamaguchi 14-10 in head-to-head but was defeated by the Japanese shuttler in the first round of the Singapore Open last month.

Sindhu, seeded fourth in the event, did not have to take the court as she got a walkover from Japan's Natsuki Nidaira in the second round while Lakshya Sen defeated Brazil's Ygor Coelho in straight games, 21-15, 21-11 in just 31 minutes. Krishna Prasad and Vinshuvardhan went down to Mohamad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan of Indonesia 9-21, 11-21 in 24 minutes in the BWF World Tour Super 500 event with a prize fund of USD 420,000.