Swiss Open: PV Sindhu moves into pre-quarterfinals; Lakshya Sen, Kidambi Srikanth also advance

Basel [Switzerland], March 20 (ANI): The two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu advanced to the second round of the ongoing Swiss Open 2024 women's singles event with a triumph over Thailand's Pornpicha Choeikeewong at the St Jakobshalle arena in Basel on Wednesday.
The seeded fourth Indian dominated her opponent throughout the match to register a 21-12, 21-13 straight-game win over World No. 43 in a contest that just lasted for 34 minutes. In the next round, the Indian will take on Japan's 17-year-old sensation Tomoka Miyazaki.
Sindhu began the opening game carefully against Choeikeewong, but she quickly found her range. The Indian led by four points at the interval after trailing 5-3. Though Choeikeewong grabbed the first point after the break, Sindhu scored six consecutive points to win the first game.
The second game was deadlocked at 9-9 before Sindhu took control with two consecutive points. Sindhu, the 2022 Swiss Open winner, overpowered the Thai shuttler after the break, advancing to the round of 16.
An in-form Lakshya Sen, who rose to world No. 13 in the current badminton rankings after reaching the semi-finals of the French Open and All-England Open, defeated Malaysia's Leoong Jun Hao 21-19, 15-21, 21-11 in 62 minutes.
Meanwhile, the former world number one Kidambi Srikanth also advanced to the second round after defeating Wang Tzu Wei of Chinese Taipei 21-17, 21-18.
Indian pair Tanisha Crasto and Ashwini Ponnappa defeated Indonesians Meilysa Trias Puspita Sari and Rachel Rose 21-18, 12-21, 21-19 in the women's doubles event.
Priya Konjengbam and Shruti Mishra won the women's doubles match 21-13, 21-19 over Huang Yu-Hsun and Liang Ting Yu of Chinese Taipei.
On the other hand, Hariharan Amsakarunan and Ruban Kumar Rethinasabapathi lost the men's doubles match against Kenya Mitsuhashi and Hiroki Okamura of Japan. 21-19, 21-14. (ANI)