Denmark Open: PV Sindhu, B Sai Praneeth eye quarter-final berths

Rio Olympic silver-medallist PV Sindhu will look to cement her spot in the quarter-final of the ongoing Denmark badminton Open in Odense when she squares off with An Se Young of Korea in the second round of the women's singles event on Thursday.

On Tuesday, the fifth-seeded had clinched a 22-20, 21-18 straight games win over Gregoria Mariska Tunjung of Indonesia in the opening round of the tournament that lasted 38 minutes to storm into the next round. 

Sindhu, who was stunned in the first round of the Korea Open last month, will now meet Se Young for the very first time for a place in the last-eight. 

In August, Sindhu made the country proud by becoming the first-ever Indian shuttler to clinch a BWF World Championships gold during the 2019 edition of the prestigious tournament. 

Sindhu was at her absolute best and didn't give any chance to her Japanese opponent and world number three Nozomi Okuhara throughout the final match to eventually seal a comfortable 21-7, 21-7 win.  It was also Sindhu's fifth title at the tournament, thus making her the joint highest in women's singles in the history of the BWF World Championships along with two-time Olympic gold medallist Xhang Ning of China. 

Elsewhere, ace Indian shuttlers B Sai Praneeth and Sameer Verma will also look to seal quarter-final berths in Denmark when they play their respective second round clashes of the men's singles event. 

While Praneeth will take on top-seed Kento Momota of Japan in the second round, Sameer will meet fifth-seed Chen Long of China for a place in the last-eight. 

Praneeth had earlier swept aside Olympic champion Lin Dan of China 21-14, 21-17 in the opening round. Sameer, on the other hand, eased past Kanta Tuneyama of Japan to reach the second round. 

In the men's doubles event, the Indian duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty wil lock horns with sixth-seed Han Cheng Kai and Zhao Hao Dong for a place in the last-eight of the tournament. 

Meanwhile, India's Pranaav Jerry Chopra and N. Sikki Reddy will also look to book their place in the quarter-final of the mixed doubles event when they face the Malaysian team of Chan Peng Soon and Goh Liu Ying.