Indian shuttlers Lakshya Sen, 16, and Ruthvika Shivani Gadde, 20, reached the quarter-finals of the Vietnam Open Grand Prix badminton tournament on Thursday. Both recorded straightforward two-game victories to enter the last eight.
That wasn’t the case, however, for the two other Indians who were still in the fray for a quarter-final berth – Pardeshi Shreyanshi and Vrushali Gummadi. Both women lost their second-round matches.
Sen, the junior world No 1, was barely tested in his 21-14, 21-12 win over local lad Thanh Long Truong in a match that lasted only 32 minutes. The Indian teenager will next take on Japan’s Kodai Naraoka, who is the junior world No 15.
Gadde also cruised through her second-round match against Chinese Taipei’s Wan Yi Tang 21-15, 21-12 in just 30 minutes. The 20-year-old Indian, ranked 103rd in the world, is not likely to have such a smooth quarter-final as she takes on the third seeded Indonesian Dinar Dyah Ayustine, ranked 60 places above her.
There was also good news for India in the men’s doubles draw, as fifth seeds Arjun MR and Ramchandran Shlok also entered the quarter-finals with a 14-21, 21-12, 21-12 win over Malaysian pair Hang Yee Low and Jinn Hwa Tan.