Singapore Open: Sindhu, Lakshya and Satwik-Chirag storm into quarters

India enjoyed a strong day at the Singapore Open on Thursday as PV Sindhu, Lakshya Sen, and the men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty advanced to the quarter-finals. Mixed doubles duo Tanisha Crasto and Dhruv Kapila also grabbed attention with a remarkable comeback win.

Sindhu continued her impressive form with another comfortable straight-games victory, defeating Japan’s Riko Gunji 21-9, 21-12 in just 37 minutes.

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The two-time Olympic medallist dominated from the start, controlling the rallies with ease and never allowing her opponent to settle. After knocking out Indonesia’s fifth seed Putri Kusuma Wardani in the opening round, Sindhu has carried that confidence smoothly into the quarter-finals.

A much tougher challenge now awaits her in the last eight, where she will take on reigning Olympic champion and world No. 1 An Se-young. Sindhu is yet to beat the Korean star in eight previous meetings.

In men’s doubles, fourth seeds Satwik and Chirag had to work hard before defeating Chinese Taipei’s Lee Jhe-huei and Yang Po-hsuan in a three-game contest.

The Indian pair started strongly and comfortably took the opening game 21-15. However, they completely lost momentum in the second game as the Taiwanese duo fought back to win 21-11 and force a decider.

The final game remained closely contested before Satwik and Chirag regained control at crucial moments to seal a hard-fought 21-18 victory. They will next face Malaysia’s Aaron Tai and Kang Khai Xing for a place in the semi-finals.

The biggest comeback of the day came in mixed doubles, where Tanisha Crasto and Dhruv Kapila bounced back brilliantly after a one-sided opening game against Japan’s Maya Taguchi and Yuta Watanabe.

After losing the first game 8-21, the Indian duo slowly turned the match around with aggressive net play and much better defence. They eventually completed an impressive comeback to win 21-17, 21-16. The victory comes as a major confidence boost for the pair after a series of inconsistent results in recent tournaments.

They will now face Malaysia’s world No. 4 pair Chen Tang Jie and Toh Ee Wei in the quarter-finals.

Lakshya Sen’s progress to the last eight came in an unusual fashion after Thailand’s Kunlavut Vitidsarn retired almost immediately during their round-of-16 clash. The Paris Olympics silver medallist withdrew after just two points, sending Lakshya through after barely a minute on court.

Lakshya will next play Japan’s Koki Watanabe in the quarter-finals.

Later in the day, HS Prannoy will face former world champion and home favourite Loh Kean Yew for a place in the last eight.