French Open Badminton 2021: PV Sindhu, Satwik-Chirag pair enter quarterfinals

Paris, October 29: India's ace shuttler PV Sindhu defeated Denmark's Line Christophersen in straight sets to reach the third round of the women's singles event at the ongoing French Open Super 750 tournament in Paris on Thursday (October 28) night.

Third seeded Sindhu started the match on a high as she won the first game 21-19 after a hard-fought battle. The Indian shuttler then thrashed Christophersen 21-9 in the second game to seal the match.

The double Olympic medallist will next face eighth seeded Busanan Ongbamrungphan of Thailand in the last 8 match on Friday (October 29).

In men's doubles, top Indian pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, who are seeded fifth, came from a game down to beat compatriots MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila 15-21, 21-10, 21-19.

The Indian duo will next face fourth seeded Malaysian pair of Soh Wooi Yik and Aaron Chia in the quarterfinals.

Lakshya enter quarters, Sameer retires at French Open

Earlier on Thursday (October 28), Lakshya Sen also entered into the third round of the ongoing tournament after defeating Singapore's Loh Kean Yew 21-17, 21-13. The 20-year-old will next meet South Korea's Heo Kwang-hee.

However, shuttler Sameer Verma retired midway through his second round meeting with Indonesia's Shesar Hiren Rhustavito and bowed out of the tournament despite winning the first game with a scoreline of 21-16, 12-21.

Sourabh Verma also crashed out after straight games 12-21, 9-21 defeat to Japan's Kenta Nishimoto in the second round.

The Indian mix doubles pair of Ashwini Ponnappa and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy lost in the round of 16 match. Playing on Court 4, the Indian pair lost against Indonesia's Praveen Jordan and Melati Daeva Oktavianti 21-15, 17-21, 19-21.

The pair of Ponnappa and Satwik dominated the game in the first round but the Indonesian duo came back stronger in the second and the third round.

On Wednesday (October 27), Kidambi Srikanth, Parupalli Kashyap and HS Prannoy crashed out, while Saina Nehwal retired midway through her first round match.

(With Agency inputs)