Berlin [Germany], October 30 (ANI): Indian shuttlers Lakshya Sen and PV Sindhu registered comfortable victories to advance to the quarterfinals of the Hylo Open 2026 badminton tournament in Germany on Thursday night.
While Sen survived a three-game battle against compatriot Kiran George in the men’s singles pre-quarter-finals, second seed Sindhu cruised past France’s Rosy Oktavia Pancasari in the women’s singles event, as per Olympics.com.
Seventh seed Sen, ranked 14th in the world, overcame world No. 55 Kiran George 21-15, 18-21, 21-12 in a 54-minute all-Indian encounter at the Saarlandhalle.
After comfortably taking the opening game, the Paris 2024 Olympics semi-finalist appeared in control with a 15-10 advantage in the second. However, Kiran fought back impressively, drawing level at 15-all before taking the game to force a decider.
Sen regained his momentum in the final game to seal the contest and register his eighth victory in nine meetings against his compatriot. He is now India’s sole remaining representative in the men’s singles draw.
Sindhu, meanwhile, produced a dominant performance to defeat Pancasari 21-9, 21-6 in just 26 minutes. The Indian second seed will next face Denmark’s Amalie Schulz in the quarter-finals.
In the women’s singles, Anmol Kharb also progressed after pulling off an upset against third seed and world No. 12 Line Christophersen of Denmark. The world No. 53 recovered from a game down to secure an 11-21, 21-18, 25-23 victory in a gruelling 63-minute contest.
Kharb will face compatriot Unnati Hooda in the quarter-finals after the latter defeated Denmark’s Frederikke Ostergaard 21-11, 21-19.
However, it was a disappointing outing for India’s other women’s singles players, with Malvika Bansod losing 21-11, 21-17 to Canada’s Wen Yu Zhang, while Isharani Baruah went down 21-14, 21-19 against eighth seed Line Hojmark Kjaersfeldt of Denmark. (ANI)
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