Malaysia MastersPV Sindhu, HS Prannoy, Kidambi Srikanth advance to quarters, Lakshya Sen crashes out

By India Today Sports DeskPV Sindhu, Kidambi Srikanth and HS Prannoy advanced to the quarterfinals of the Malaysia Masters after winning their respective Round of 16 matches. Sindhu didn’t have to break a sweat after she defeated Japan’s Aya Ohori 21-16, 21-11. Sindhu took only 40 minutes to beat the World No.28.

With the win, Sindhu took her head-to-head record against Ohori to 13-0. The two-time Olympic medallist will now face China’s Yi Man Zhang in the last eight. Prannoy, on the other hand, had to work hard before beating Li Shi Feng, the current champion of the All England tournament, 13-21, 21-16, 21-11.

After losing the first game, Prannoy made it 13-13 to keep himself alive in the match. Thereafter, he put his best foot forward, won five points in a row to take the match into the deciding game. In the decider, Prannoy took a 16-5 lead to put his opponent under immense pressure.

Although Feng fetched some points later, it wasn’t enough to stop the Indian. Prannoy is set to lock horns with Japan’s Kenta Nishimoto in the quarterfinals.

Srikanth defeated Thailand’s Kunlavut Vitidsarn 21-19, 21-19 and booked his place in the quarters. The 30-year-old will cross swords with Indonesia’s Christian Adinata for a place in the semis.

In the last singles match for India on the day, Lakshya Sen lost to Hong Kong’s Angus Ng Ka Long, also the winner of the 2023 German Open, 14-21, 19-21. After a pretty one-sided contest in the first game, Sen looked like making a comeback, but Long managed to hold his nerves and come up trumps.