PV Sindhu, Sameer Verma eases into Thailand Open quarterfinals

Indian shuttler Sameer Verma continued his stellar run at the Thailand Open as he eased past Denmark's Rasmus Gemke in straight games to enter the quarterfinals of the men's singles event on Thursday. Verma defeated Gemke 21-12, 21-9 in the second-round contest of the Super 1000 tournament that lasted for almost 40 minutes. 

Verma led the match from the start and took the opening game in less than 20 minutes. Having beaten the eighth seed Lee Zii Jia of Malaysia in the opening round, the world number 31 took his game a notch higher as he won the second game 21-9 to march into the last eight. 

Verma will now face world three Anders Antonsen for a place in the semi-finals. On Tuesday, Verma had registered a stunning comeback win against Zii Jia as he came with a lion-hearted performance to secure an 18-21, 27-25, 21-19 win in a thrilling opening match that lasted for one hour and 14 minutes.

"I think this will give me confidence for the rest of the tournament," he had said after his first-round win as per the Badminton World Federation (BWF) website.

Verma was uncertain of making the Asian Leg and said he'd arrived in Bangkok in perhaps not the best frame of mind. In fact, he had already booked his return flight for Thursday, as per the BWF. 

PV Sindhu also cruised to the quarterfinals of the Thailand Open after a victory over Malaysia`s Kisona Selvaduray. The Olympic silver medalist outclassed Kisona in the second-round clash to register an easy 21-10, 21-12 win in an encounter that lasted less than an hour.

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Ashwini Ponnappa also were through to the quarterfinals of the mixed doubles event. The Indian pair beat world number 17 German pair 22-20, 14-21, 21-16 in the second round.  

Satwik and Chirag Shetty also advanced to the final eight of the men’s doubles. The pair secured a thrilling 23-21, 21, 18 win against Korea's Solgyu Choi and Seung Jae Seo in a match which lasted for forty minutes.  

Meanwhile, HS Prannoy endured a 17-21, 18-21 defeat against Malaysia's Liew Daren and made a second-round exit from the tournament. Prannoy gave a tough competition in the match but was eventually defeated by Daren in a 40-minute clash. Prannoy had progressed to the second round of the competition after securing a hard-fought win over Jonatan Christie on Wednesday.