Harpal Singh Bedi
Former world no 1 PV Sindhu and Commonwealth Games champion Lakshya Sen chalked out facile wins over their rivals to cruise to the quarter-finals of theUS Open Badminton at US Open Badminton at Council Bluffs, Iowa. Sindhu overwhelmed Sung Shuo Yun of the Chinese Taipei 21-14,21-12 in the round of 16 of women’s singles. Lakshya Sen, meanwhile, beat the Czech Republic’s JanLouda 21-8, 23-21 in his second-round match.
Competing at the MId-America Centre in Iowa, Sindhu, currently 12th in the BWF world badminton rankings, started slow but found her rhythm as the match progressed. The Indian put Sung Shuo Yun on the back foot and raced to a 13-5 lead.
The Chinese Taipei shuttler put up a brief resistance but it was not enough as Sindhu wrapped up the first game. In the second game, Sindhu and Sung Shuo Yun went toe-to-toeearly on with both shuttlers looking to seize control of the encounter. As the match progressed, Sung Shuo Yun was unable to match Sindhu’s intensity as the Indian pulled away fora healthy lead winning five consecutive points to seal the match in 37 minutes.
Two-time Olympic medalist Sindhu will go up against Gao Fang Jie of China next in the last eight. The Indian holds a 1-3 head-to-head record against theChinese shuttler.
Earlier third seed Lakshya Sen, found his momentum early on and comfortably pocketed the first game. The second game proved a far bigger challenge as the Indian trailed14-19 . He rallied back to level the scores at 19-all. In what was a thrilling finish to the match, Lakshya Sen held his nerve and eventually clinched the 39-minute encounter.
The quarter-finals will be an all-India affair as Sen will face compatriot S Sankar Muthusamy Subramanian, who defeated Israel’s Misha Zilberman 21-18, 21-23, 21-13.