World championship silver medallist Kidambi Srikanth got the better of World Number 5 Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand in straight games, 21-19, 21-19, in the Round of 16 match of the Malaysia Masters 2023 to join Prannoy and Sindhu in the quarterfinals on Thursday.
Srikanth will face Indonesia’s Christian Adinata in the last-eight clash on Friday. It was a hard-fought match for the Hyderabadi shuttler. Earlier in the day, double Olympic medallist PV Sindhu comfortably got the better of Aya Ohori of Japan, 21-16, 21-11, in 40 minutes in pre-quarters and will lock horns with China’s Zhang Yi Man to book a spot in the semifinals in the tournament being held in Kuala Lumpur.
Continuing his good run in the BWF World Tour Super 500 event, Prannoy defeated All England champion Li Shi Feng of China with a superb come-from-behind victory 13-21, 21-16, 21-11 in the Round of 16. He will face Japan’s Kenta Nishimoto in the last eight rounds on Friday.
In men’s singles, shuttler Lakshya Sen will also be in action later in the day. Indian shuttlers will be competing in the Hangzhou Asian Games from September 23 to October 8 in singles, doubles, and team events.
Sindhu bagged a bronze in the team event in 2014, while she won a silver in women’s singles in the 2018 edition. Overall, Sindhu has an impressive record in multi-sporting events, as she bagged a gold in the Commonwealth Games 2022 in Birmingham and won a silver and bronze in the Rio Olympics 2016 and the Tokyo Olympics, respectively.
Lakshya Sen, too, will be eager to perform after winning gold in the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. He was also part of the team that won the Thomas Cup in the same year.