K. Srikanth made it to the quarterfinals but an erratic P.V. Sindhu went down in straight games at the $750,000 Malaysia Open here on Thursday.
Eighth-seeded Srikanth, who had reached the final of a BWF World Tour event after 17 months at the India Open last week, defeated Thailand’s Khosit Phetpradab 21-11, 21-15 in little over half an hour (32 minutes) to set up a meeting with Olympic champion and fourth seed Chen Long of China.
Fifth seed Sindhu blew a 13-10 advantage in the opening game to go down rather meekly 21-18, 21-7 to World No. 10 Sung Ji Hyun for her third straight defeat to the Korean.
The Indian had lost to Sung in the first round of the All England Championship and 2018 Hong Kong Open.
The mixed doubles pair of Pranaav Jerry Chopra and N. Sikki Reddy lost 15-21, 21-17, 21-13 to the local combination of Tan Kian Meng and Lai Pei Jing.
Early lead
Srikanth opened up a 6-2 lead early on and then jumped to a 14-6 advantage.
The Indian continued to dominate the proceedings to pocket the opening game. Nothing changed in the second with Srikanth marching ahead early and holding his fort to comfortably shut out the match.
In the women’s singles match, Sindhu, after some good rallies, enjoyed a 8-5 lead before Sung drew level.
The Indian again managed to hold a 11-9 lead but after the interval, Sung erased the deficit and grabbed a 16-14 lead thanks to Sindhu’s two miscued shots.
A backhand aimed at the body helped Sung to move up to 19-16.
Sindhu then misjudged the shuttle twice at the backline, to hand the opening game to her rival.
Sung Ji raced to a 5-0 lead early on before moving to 10-5. A precise down-the-line return helped her grab a 11-6 advantage at the break.
It was a one-way traffic after the breather as the Korean took 10 of the next 11 points as Sindhu made some uncharacteristic mistakes.
Eventually, two unforced errors from the Indian helped Sung seal the quarterfinal spot.
The results (second round): Men: K. Srikanth bt Khosit Phetpradab (Tha) 21-11, 21-15.
Women: Sung Ji Hyun (Kor) bt P.V. Sindhu 21-18, 21-7.
Mixed doubles: Kiang Meng Tan & Pei Jing Lai (Mas) bt Pranaav Jerry Chopra & Sikki N. Reddy 15-21, 21-17, 21-13.