Sindhu enters Korea Open QFs; Sen, Malvika bow out

World number seven Sindhu, a two-time Olympic medallist, got the better of world number 26 Ohori 21-15 21-10 in a lop-sided contest to take her head-to-head count against the Japanese to an overwhelming 12-0 in 13 meetings.

The third-seeded Indian will next face a familiar foe in Thailand’s Busanan Ongbamrungphan, whom she had defeated in the fi nal of the Swiss Open last month.World championship bronze medallist Sen, ranked ninth in the world, went down 20-22 9-21 to world number 24 Shear Hiren Rhustavito in 33 minutes.

The country’s other fast-rising shuttler Bansod also failed to advance to the quarterfi nals as she was brushed aside by Thailand’s Pornpawee Chochuwong 8-21 14-21 in a second-round women’s singles clash that lasted 39 minutes.

It was curtains for the mixed doubles pair of Sumeeth Reddy and Ashwini Ponnappa as well. The duo fought hard but eventually went down 20-22 21-18 14-21 to the fi fth seed Chinese combine of Ou Xuan Yi and Huang Ya Qiong in a grueling battle that lasted close to an hour.