German Grand Prix Gold: PV Sindhu storms into quarters

Mulheim an der Ruhr (Germany): Indian ace shuttlers Kidambi Srikanth and Parupalli Kashyap advanced to the prequarterfinals after notching up contrasting victories in the men’s singles competition of the $120,000 German Grand Prix Gold here on Thursday.

In the women’s section, seventh seed P.V. Sindhu thrashed Canada’s Michelle Li in straight games 21-9, 21-17 and set up a quarterfinal clash with China’s fourth-seeded Shixian Wang.

Wang had defeated Indonesia’s Lindaweni Fanteri in straight games  21-10, 21-17.

World No.10 Srikanth, who clinched the Syed Modi Grand Prix Gold at Lucknow in January this year, struggled past qualifier Erik Meijs of The Netherlands 15-21, 21-6, 21-16 in a 48-minute match at  the RWE Sporthalle.
The sixth seed will take on World No.16 NG Ka Long Angus of Hong Kong, seeded 12th, in the next round.

Commonwealth Games champion Kashyap, on the other hand, hardly broke a sweat as he zoomed past Irish qualifier Joshua Magee 21-12, 21-11 in another match.

The 11th seeded Indian, who is making a comeback after recovering from a series of injuries, will face Korea’s Son Wan Ho, seeded eighth, next.

It was however end of the road for young Sameer Verma as his fierce battle ended in a narrow 21-8, 19-21, 19-21 loss against Korea’s Lee Dong Keun, seeded 15th.

In men’s doubles, Indian pair of Manu Attri and B. Sumeeth Reddy prevailed over English combo of Marcus Ellis and Chris Langridge in three games 21-16, 19-21, 21-17. They will next run into the Chinese Taipei combination of Lee Sheng Mu and Tsai Chia Hsin.