Tokyo, Jul 25 (UNI) Fifth seeded PV Sindhu advanced to the quarterfinals of the Japan Open after a hard fought battle against host country's Aya Ohori which she won here on Thursday.
India's top shuttler Sindhu, however, struggled for an hour to get better of unseeded Aya Ohori 11-21, 21-10, 21-13 in a second-round women's singles match. After losing the first game 21-10, Sindhu won the next two games easily. To secure a berth in the semifinal, Sindhu will now have to face fourth-seeded Japanese Akane Yamaguchi.
In the men's single event, Praneeth also advanced to the semifinal by defeating shuttler, Kanta Tsuneyama, 21-13, 21-16. Praneeth will face Indonesian Tommy Sugiarto who defeated Praneeth in Australian Open two years ago.
However, HS Prannoy, went down to Rasmus Gemke of Denmark 9-21 15-21 in his second-round match.
In the men's doubles, the pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty also marched to the quarterfinals after emerging victorious in a tough three-game second-round affair of 53 minutes.
The Indian pair defeated China's Kai Xiang Huang and Cheng Liu 15-21 21-11 21-19 to set up a quarterfinal clash with the second-seeded local combination of Takeshi Kamura and Keigo Sonoda.
UNI XC AKC SY 1452