PV Sindhu and the formidable men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty powered into the quarter-finals of the Thailand Open, a BWF Super 500 tournament, with comfortable victories on Thursday.
Two-time Olympic medallist Sindhu looked in fine form as she brushed aside Danish shuttler Amalie Schulz 21-13, 21-15 in just 28 minutes. This was her second straight straight-game win in the tournament, having already defeated Chinese Taipei’s Tung Ciou-Tong in the opening round.
Up next for the former world champion is a tough quarter-final against Japan’s reigning world champion Akane Yamaguchi. Sindhu holds a slight 15-13 edge in their head-to-head record, promising an exciting battle.
Meanwhile, top-seeded Satwik and Chirag continued their strong campaign, defeating the Malaysian pair of Bryan Jeremy Goonting and Muhammad Haikal 21-12, 21-19 in their first-ever meeting. The Indian duo, who came into the event fresh from helping India win Thomas Cup bronze, had earlier edged past the Indonesians Muh Putra Erwiansyah and Bagas Maulana in three games.
Satwik-Chirag, winners of this title in 2019 and 2024, remain the only top seeds with prior success here. They will face Japan’s sixth-seeded pair Takumi Nomura and Yuichi Shimogami in the last eight for a spot in the semi-finals.
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