PV Sindhu, the top seed from India, defeated Japan’s Aya Ohori in straight games to advance to the quarterfinals of the Korea Open Super 500 badminton tournament on Thursday. Meanwhile, Lakshya Sen and Malvika Bansod were knocked out in their respective matches after losing to the world’s top seed.
Against world number 26 Ohori, Sindhu won 21-15 21-10 in a lopsided match to dominate the Japanese in head-to-head battles 12-0 in 13 meetings, improving her record to 12-0 in 13 encounters against the Japanese.
After her close match with Thailand’s Busanan Ongbamrungphan in the Swiss Open final, the third seeded Indian will face another familiar foe in the fourth seed.
The former world champion owns a 16-1 advantage over the world number 11 Thai in 17 meetings after winning the Syed Modi International and Swiss Open Super 300 titles this season.
Nineh-ranked Sen, who won the bronze medal at the World Championships, lost to world number 24 Shesar Hiren Rhustavito by a score of 20-22 9-21.
Bansod, also fast-rising in the country, was not able to qualify in the women’s singles round of the tournament after losing to Thailand’s Pornpawee Chochuwong 8-21 14-21 after a 39-minute match.
A grueling battle lasted nearly an hour for Sumeeth Reddy and Ashwini Ponnappa in the mixed doubles matches. They battled hard but eventually lost 20-22 21-18 14-21 to the fifth seed Chinese team Ou Xuan Yi and Huang Ya Qiong.
In the 37-minute second round encounter, Sindhu didn’t appear to be in over her head as she dominated Ohori. The Indian was good to begin with and took the 8-7 lead in no time, but it was easily wiped out by Sindhu.
Sindhu blew away her opponent’s comeback attempt in the second with 17 of the next 19 points as she held on for the win. The Japanese did have an 8-4 lead in the second, but it was dealt with by Sindhu.
The sixth seed Sen, who has won back-to-back tournaments with a final finish at both the German Open and All England Championships, lost the first game in a close contest to Rhustavito.
In the second period, the 20-year-old Indian lost steam and was forced to concede the tie.
