PV Sindhu advances to Denmark Open 2021 quarter final

All other Indian shuttlers in action on Thursday lost their respective matches.

The third day of the prestigious Denmark Open 2021 was full of highs and lows for the Indian shuttlers. After a brilliant opening day, the second day was a reality check for the Indian contingent as they lost all of their matches. Saina Nehwal was one of the high-profile players who lost her encounter and the dismal performance continued on the third day.

Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu was the sole winner on the day at the tournament which was held in Odense, Denmark. She was up against Busanan Ongbamrungphan of Thailand in women's singles second round. Sindhu emerged winner in a gruelling contest which lasted three games. The scoreline read 21-16, 12-21, 21-15 in the Indian’s favor, who will face An Se-young in the quarter final of the Denmark Open 2021.

Performances elsewhere

Kidambi Srikanth was also in action in men’s singles as he came up against top seed Kento Momota of Japan. The world No.1 shuttler made short work of the Indian and came away the victor within 43 minutes. Momota entered the quarter final after winning by a 23-21, 21-9 scoreline, thus ending Srikanth’s journey at the Denmark Open 2021.

Elsewhere, Lakshya Sen was up against Tokyo Olympics gold-medallist Viktor Axelsen in the second round of men’s singles at the Denmark Open 2021. The Danish shuttler was in a different class and came away with a comfortable win by a 21-15, 21-7 scoreline. 

In the mixed doubles, Indian pair of Dhruv Kapila and N. Sikki Reddy lost their match to Tang Chun Man and Tse Ying Suet of Hong Kong. The opponents managed to pip the Indians in the final game after a closely fought encounter that ended by a 21-17, 19-21, 21-11 scoreline.

Over at the men’s doubles, M.R. Arjun and Dhruv Kapila lost their contest against Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto of Indonesia. The Indonesians beat the Indian duo by  21-15, 17-21, 21-12 in a match which lasted 46 minutes. This was the second match of the day at the Denmark Open 2021 which Dhruv Kapila lost in three games.

India’s most prolific doubles pairing of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty also failed to make it to the Denmark Open 2021 quarter final. They were up against Malaysian opponents Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzuddin. Despite a victory in the first game, the duo lost the next two games and were knocked out of the competition. The final score read 14-21,21-15,21-15 in favour of the Malaysian duo.

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