Arctic Open: Sindhu sets up quarter-final clash with top seed Intanon

Vantaa, Oct 8: Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu will face a familiar but formidable opponent in the Arctic Open quarterfinals after the sixth-seeded Indian progressed with a straight-game victory over Japan’s Riko Gunji in Vantaa, Finland, on Thursday.

Sindhu, a two-time Olympic medallist, overcame Gunji 21-15, 21-15 in 49 minutes to set up a last-eight meeting with top seed and former world champion Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand.

The quarterfinal will revive one of the more established rivalries on the women’s circuit, although the two players have not faced each other since 2022. Intanon holds a 9-4 advantage in their head-to-head record and has won their last five encounters.

Their most recent meeting came at the Indonesia Masters in 2022, where the Thai prevailed in straight games.

Intanon has also enjoyed success this season, winning the Malaysia Masters Super 500 in May after defeating China’s Chen Yufei in the final. The Thai secured her place in the quarter-finals by ending Tanvi Sharma’s run with a 21-18, 21-7 victory.

India’s men’s singles campaign ended with Tharun Mannepalli’s 21-14, 21-19 defeat to second seed Christo Popov of France.

Earlier, Krishna Prasad Garaga and Pruthvi Krishnamurthy Roy produced the standout result for India, , knocking out fifth seeds He Ji Ting and Ren Xiang Yu of China to reach the men’s doubles pre-quarterfinals, while experienced singles campaigners HS Prannoy and Kidambi Srikanth made early exits here on Thursday.

The unseeded Indian combination showed considerable resilience after dropping the opening game, recovering to beat the Chinese pair 10-21, 21-18, 22-20 in a 61-minute contest.

Garaga and Roy, who won the Saint-Denis Reunion Open and VI Mexican International Challenge in successive weeks in May, will next meet England’s Oliver Butler and Samuel Jones for a place in the quarter-finals.

The doubles upset came on a day when India’s singles campaign lost two of its most established names.

Srikanth, ranked 31st in the world, appeared on course for a strong start after taking the opening game against Canada’s Brian Yang. The former world No. 1, however, could not sustain the momentum and eventually lost 15-21, 21-15, 21-13.

The result extends a difficult season for Srikanth, whose best performance on the BWF World Tour remains his runner-up finish at the US Open Super 300 in June. He has now suffered eight first-round defeats on the circuit this year.

Prannoy’s challenge ended more abruptly against fourth seed Anders Antonsen. The 34-year-old Indian, who reached the Vietnam Open Super 100 semi-finals last month, was unable to impose himself against the Dane and went down 21-10, 21-9. Agencies

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