French Open | Sindhu enters quarterfinals, Srikanth loses in French Open

Sindhu, a two-time Olympic medallist, battled her way from an opening-game reversal to outgun World No. 10 Zhang

India’s P.V. Sindhu produced another impressive show as she rallied to a three-game win over USA’s Beiwen Zhang to advance to the women’s singles quarterfinals but it was curtains for K. Srikanth at the French Open Super 750 badminton tournament here on Thursday.

Playing her first BWF tour event since returning from a knee injury, Sindhu, a two-time Olympic medallist, battled her way from an opening-game reversal to outgun World No. 10 Zhang 13-21, 21-10, 21-14 to enter her first quarterfinal of the season.

Srikanth once again hit a roadblock, this time against Guang Zu to suffer yet another round-of-16 loss, something which will bother him as he held a 5-0 record against the Chinese ahead of the match.

The former World No. 1 lost 19-21, 21-12, 22-20 to the World No. 17 Chinese

In women’s singles, Sindhu started the proceedings with a cross-court winner but Zhang put up a defensive wall, engaging the Indian in long rallies dominated by a series of high tosses and clears.

Sindhu struggled with the conditions as, going for the backline, the Indian committed too many unforced errors to allow Zhang lead 11-7 and 14-9.

Zhang’s lifts repeatedly found the lines, while Sindhu missed time and again. Soon the American re-established a five-point lead at 16-11 before grabbing eight game points. The Chinese converted when Sindhu sprayed into net again.