Indian shuttlers PV Sindhu and Sameer Verma advanced to the quarter-finals of the Korea Open on Thursday. Olympic silver medallist Sindhu defeated Thailand’s Nitchaon Jindapol 22-20, 21-17 to set up a clash with Japan’s Minatsu Mitani in the quarter-finals. Sameer defeated Hong Kong’s Wong Wing Ki Vincent 21-19, 21-13 in 41 minutes and will face South Korean Son Wan Ho in the quarters. Son is the top seed and defeated India’s Parupalli Kashyap in the second round. Kashyap battled for an hour and 16 minutes before bowing out 16-21, 21-17, 16-21 against Son. The Indian duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty produced a breakthrough win over a top-10 pair for the first time in their careers. They defeated the seventh-seeded Chinese Taipei pair of Lee Jhe-Huei and Lee Yang, ranked ninth in the world, by a 23-21, 16-21, 21-8 scoreline. The Indians have set up a quarter-final clash with the third-seeded Japanese pair of Takeshi Kamura and Keigo Sonoda on Friday, and will be looking to pull off another upset.
Highlights, Korea Open Superseries, badminton results: PV Sindhu beats Minatsu Mitani to enter semi-finals
PV Sindhu and Sameer Verma are in action in the quarter-finals of the Korea Open Superseries. Follow our live blog for scores and updates from all the matches.
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And that brings us to the end of the quarter-finals day at the Korea Open Superseries in Seoul. It was a good day at the office for PV Sindhu, who rallied against Japan’s Minatsu Mitani to enter the semi-finals of the tournament. Despite a sluggish opening game, she stuck to her balanced game to beat the Japanese in three games. China’s He Binjiao defeated Sung Ji Hyun to set up a mouth-watering semis clash with the Indian ace shuttler.
Sameer Verma and the doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty were shown the exit door today. That’s it from us, we will be back tomorrow. Goodbye!
Here’s tomorrow’s schedule at the Korea Open Superseries:
Takeshi Kamura and Keigo Sonoda enter semis
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty’s fine run at the Korea Open Superseries comes to an end after a 14-21, 21-17, 15-21 loss against the fourth seed Japanese pair in 55 minutes. Tough luck, at least you made it to the quarters for the first time. That, in itself, is an achievement for the young Indian duo.
9-9! That’s some turnaround….
Takeshi and Keigo claw back into the second game to level the scores. There’s a bit of pressure on Satwiksairaj and Chirag at the moment.
PV Sindhu beats Minatsu Mitani: 21-19, 16-21, 21-10
It was classic Sindhu in the decider as she thwarted Minatsu with a barrage of crosscourt shots and forehand drives which proved to be helpful for her. The match lasted for 63 minutes and it was the Indian ace who powered through to the semis of the Korea Open Superseries.
Minatsu Mitani claims second game: 21-16
It’s 1-1 in the women’s singles quarter-final clash between Minatsu and Sindhu as the winner of the match will be decided in a few minutes. The Japanese shuttler proved a handful for Sindhu with her over-the-head shots and wristy strokes from the forecourt.
At one point, Minatsu was at 8-6……
8-6! Minatsu opens a two-point lead over Sindhu. She has taken the forecourt position in the second game and interestingly, Sindhu has played 4 of her 6 shots from the backcourt.
**8-8!**Two quick back-to-back net shots and we are level again. This was pretty quick