Sindhu, Sameer enter quarters, Kashyap bows out

Seoul, September 15
PV Sindhu and Sameer Verma advanced to the quarter-finals of the $600,000 Korea Super Series with straight-game wins here today. However, it was curtains for Parupalli Kashyap and B Sai Praneeth as they lost their second-round matches. Olympics silver-medallist Sindhu saw off Thailand’s Nitchaon Jindapol 22-20 21-17 to set up a clash with Japan’s Minatsu Mitani, who won a bronze medal at the 2014 World Championships.
Hong Kong Super Series finalist and Syed Modi Grand Prix winner Verma defeated Hong Kong’s Wong Wing Ki Vincent 21-19 21-13 in 41 minutes. He will need to raise his game by a few notches when he faces local favourite Son Wan Ho. Top seed Son Wan, though, had to dig deep to end Kashyap’s run. He battled for an hour and 16 minutes before getting the better of the Indian 21-16 17-21 21-16 to reach the last-eight stage.
Praneeth fought hard before going down 13-21 24-26 to seventh seed Tzu Wei Wang of Chinese Taipei in a contest that lasted 40 minutes. In the men’s doubles, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty showcased rising Indian prowess in the men’s doubles, beating seventh seed Chinese Taipei combo of Lee Jhe-Huei and Lee Yang 23-21 16-21 21-8 in 51 minutes in a second-round match. The young Indian duo will make their maiden appearance in a Super Series quarterfinal tomorrow.