Srikanth, Prannoy enter quarterfinals; Sindhu, Saina lose in German Open

Kidambi Srikanth and HS Prannoy progressed to the men's singles quarterfinals but PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal crashed out of the women's competition following second-round losses in the German Open Super 300 badminton tournament on Thursday. The Indian men's doubles pair of Krishna Prasad Garaga and Vishnuvardhan Goud Panjala also advanced to the last-eight round.

World championships silver medallist Srikanth, who is seeded eighth here, prevailed 21-16 21-23 21-18 over China's Lu Guang Zu in a second round match to set up a clash with Olympic champion and top seed Viktor Axelsen of Denmark, who beat France's Toma Junior Popov 21-17 21-10 in another match. Prannoy, a former world no 8, also dished out a gritty performance to outwit Hong Kong's Lee Cheuk Yiu 21-19 24-22 in a thrilling contest.

He will square off against the winner of the match between India's Lakshya Sen and Indonesia's fourth seed Anthony Sinisuka Ginting. The seventh seeded Sindhu, a 2019 World Champion and two-time Olympic medallist, however, suffered a shock 14-21 21-15 14-21 loss against China's Zhang Yi Man in 55 minutes in the women's singles second round.

London bronze winner Saina, who has been struggling with fitness issues, also proved no match against eighth seeded Thai Ratchanok Intanon, going down 10-21 15-21 in a lop-sided contest. In men's doubles, the pairing of Krishna and Vishnuvardhan registered a 23-21 16-21 21-14 win over compatriots Ishaan Bhatnagar and Sai Pratheek K in an hour and three minutes.

Earlier, Srikanth, who was forced to pull out of the India Open after testing positive for COVID-19, had to dig deep to outlast his world no 27 opponent in a thrilling match that lasted an hour and seven minutes. The Indian made a good