Priyanshu Rajawat sets up quarters clash with Kidambi Srikanth, PV Sindhu in next round too
In yet another remarkable display by the Indian singles shuttlers, a host of them moved into the quarter-finals of the Australian Open 500 on Thursday. To begin the day, fast-rising Priyanshu Rajawat beat Wang TW of Chinese Taipei 21-8, 13-21, 21-19 in a battle that lasted close to an hour.
Kidambi Srikanth, the former WR-1, beat Chinese Taipei's Su LY in straight games 21-10, 21-17. Now he will face compatriot Rajawat in the last eight on Friday. The men's singles' success did not end there as WR-9 HS Prannoy too made it to the quarters as he beat Chi YJ of Chinese Taipei 19-21, 21-19, 21-13.
Unfortunately, youngster Mithun Manjunath lost his match. Manjunath, who had beaten Loh Kean Yew in the first round, lost to Lee Zii Jia in three games 13-21, 21-12, 19-21. Kiran George too lost his match against WR-2 Antony Ginting of Indonesia in straight games 21-15, 21-18.
In the women's singles though, PV Sindhu moved into the quarters as well, as she beat compatriot Aakarshi Kashyap 21-14, 21-10. She will be up against Beiwen Zhang of the USA in the next round. Later in the day, Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand will play their second-round match.