Sindhu, Satwik-Chirag March into Thailand Open Quarterfinals

Bangkok — India’s star shuttlers continued their impressive run at the Thailand Open BWF Super 500 tournament on Thursday, with two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu and top men’s doubles pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty booking their places in the quarterfinals.

World No. 12 Sindhu cruised past Denmark’s Amalie Schulz in straight games, winning 21-13, 21-15 in just 28 minutes. The victory marked her second dominant performance of the tournament after she had comfortably beaten Chinese Taipei’s Tung Ciou-Tong 21-9, 21-12 in the opening round.

Sindhu now faces a tough challenge against reigning world champion Akane Yamaguchi of Japan in the quarterfinals. The Indian star currently leads their head-to-head record 15-13.

In men’s doubles, the Indian top seeds Satwik and Chirag defeated Malaysia’s Bryan Jeremy Goonting and Muhammad Haikal 21-12, 21-19 in their first-ever meeting. The Indian duo, champions here in 2019 and 2024, remain the only top seeds in the draw with previous title-winning experience at the tournament.

The pair will next take on Japan’s sixth-seeded combination of Takumi Nomura and Yuichi Shimogami for a place in the semifinals.

Coming into the tournament after helping India secure a bronze medal at the Thomas Cup, Satwik and Chirag had opened their campaign with a hard-fought 21-19, 21-23, 21-10 win over Indonesia’s Muh Putra Erwiansyah and Bagas Maulana.

Elsewhere, Indian shuttlers Lakshya Sen, Kidambi Srikanth, Malvika Bansod and Thailand Masters 2026 champion Devika Sihag were scheduled to play later in the day.

Srikanth had earlier stunned Singapore’s eighth seed Loh Kean Yew 21-14, 21-15 in the opening round, while Lakshya made a successful return from injury by defeating Singapore’s Jia Heng Jason Teh 21-16, 21-17.

Devika advanced after overcoming Japan’s N. Nidaira in the preliminary stage. Bansod, meanwhile, battled through a tense three-game encounter against Zhang Wen Yu, winning 13-21, 26-24, 21-13 despite still recovering from ACL surgery on her left knee.

However, India’s campaign suffered a setback as world No. 48 Unnati Kharb bowed out in the opening round after a spirited 21-19, 13-21, 18-21 loss to world No. 4 Chen Yu Fei in a contest lasting over an hour.

With inputs from IANS