Asian Games: Sindhu, Prannoy sail into singles quarterfinals in badminton

Hangzhou: Two-time Olympic medallist Indian shuttler PV Sindhu and HS Prannoy sailed into the quarterfinals of the women's and men's singles badminton with straight game wins at the Asian Games here on Wednesday.

Former world champion Sindhu won the round of 16 match against Putri Kusuma Wardani 21-16 21-16, sealing it in her favour without breaking a sweat against the hapless Indonesian.

Sindhu will line up against China's He Bingjiao in the quarterfinals, and will fancy her chances against the Chinese having denied her a medal at the Tokyo Olympics two years ago.

Bingjiao won 21-10 21-4 against Rasila Maharjan of Nepal.

Prannoy also booked his spot in the quarterfinals as he beat Kazakhstan's Dmitriy Panarin 21-12 21-13.

Sindhu was excellent in rallies and dictated terms to her opponent from the get-go, and so was Prannoy, India's best singles player at the moment who, unfortunately, could not feature in the team event final against China owing to an injury.