Ace Indian shuttlers P.V. Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth advanced to the quarterfinals of the Madrid Spain Masters badminton tournament with straight-game victories in their respective singles matches on Thursday.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Two-time Olympic medallist Sindhu, moved passed Putri Kusuma Wardani of Indonesia 21-16, 21-14 in 36 minutes of play. She will next face Mia Blichfeldt of Denmark, who she defeated in the Tokyo Olympics Round-of-16.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The Indian ace holds a healthy 5-1 head-to-head record against the Danish shuttler. Friday's quarterfinal will be the pair's first meeting since their Tokyo Olympics encounter.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Sindhu has been struggling for form this season since making a comeback after a long injury lay-off following her gold medal win in the women's singles at the Commonwealth Games 2022 in Birmingham.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The former world champion, who recently parted ways with her South Korean coach Park Tae-sang, has slipped out of the top 10 in the women's singles BWF rankings for the first time since November 2016.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
On the other hand, Srikanth trounced compatriot Sai Praneeth 21-15, 21-12 to enter the last-eight stage.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Srikanth, seeded fifth in the tournament, have a tough task on the card in the quarterfinal where he will meet the top seed Japanese shuttler Kenta Nishimoto, who was handed a walkover by Frenchman Arnaud Merkle in the second round.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
In other actions, Kiran George, Priyanshu Rajawat and Sameer Verma, Ashmita Chaliha crashed out after suffering second-round losses.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
George suffered a 17-21, 12-21 loss at the hands of Denmark's Magnus Johannesen in 31 minutes, while Rajawat was beaten by eighth seed Toma Junior Popov of France 14-21, 15-21. Verma lost 15-21, 14-21 against second-seeded Japanese Kanta Tsuneyama in the men's singles.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
In the women's singles, Chaliha went down to Singapore's Yeo Jia Min 15-21, 15-21, while Malvika Bansod gave a walkover to home favourite and Rio Olympic champion Carolina Marin.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
George suffered a 17-21, 12-21 loss at the hands of Denmark's Magnus Johannesen in 31 minutes, while Rajawat was beaten by eighth seed Toma Junior Popov of France 14-21, 15-21. Verma lost 15-21, 14-21 against second-seeded Japanese Kanta Tsuneyama in the men's singles.<\/p>\r\n\r\n