Dominant displays from PV Sindhu and Lakshya Sen propelled them into the quarterfinals of the Indonesia Masters on Thursday, highlighting India’s resilience amid a tournament of ups and downs. In Jakarta’s humid courts, the pair notched easy wins to set up intriguing last-eight clashes.
PV Sindhu, the two-time Olympic medalist, edged Denmark’s Line Kjaersfeldt 21-19, 21-18 over 43 minutes, improving her head-to-head to 6-1. Recalling her gritty Wednesday win over Japan’s Manami Suizu (22-20, 21-18 in 53 minutes), Sindhu now confronts world No. 4 Chen Yufei of China, trailing 6-7 in 13 meetings.
Lakshya Sen, Paris Olympics standout, crushed Jason Gunawan of Hong Kong 21-10, 21-11 in just over half an hour, building on his prior victory against Wang Tzu-wei. His quarterfinal pits him against Thailand’s Panitchapong Teeraratsakul.
Kidambi Srikanth joined the fray with a comeback 21-15, 21-23, 24-22 over Koki Watanabe, facing Chou Tien Chen next. Anmol Kharb meets Nozomi Okuhara in women’s action.
Setbacks included first-round losses for HS Prannoy, Tanvi Sharma, Kiran George (21-17, 21-14 to Mohammad Zaki Ubaidillah), and mixed pairs Dhruv Kapila/Tanisha Crasto, Rohan Kapoor/Ruthvika Shivani.
Sindhu and Sen’s advances signal strong prospects for India, potentially reigniting their campaigns in this key BWF event and paving the way for podium finishes.