Two-time Olympic medalist PV Sindhu and Thomas Cup bronze medalists Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty excelled in the Thailand Open, a BWF Super 500 badminton event, securing victories in their respective matches on Thursday. Sindhu, ranked 12th globally, triumphed over Danish player Amalie Schulz in straight games of 21-13, 21-15, in a quick 28-minute encounter. This marked Sindhu’s second consecutive win in the tournament, following her earlier victory against Tung Ciou-Tong of Chinese Taipei.
Sindhu is set to face off against familiar rival and reigning world champion Akane Yamaguchi from Japan in the quarter-finals. The Indian star holds a 15-13 advantage in their head-to-head record. Meanwhile, Satwik and Chirag defeated the Malaysian pair of Bryan Jeremy Goonting and Muhammad Haikal in straight games of 21-12, 21-19, in their first-ever meeting. Notably, as the top seeds with prior success in the tournament in 2019 and 2024, they will next challenge the sixth-seeded Japanese duo Takumi Nomura and Yuichi Shimogami for a spot in the semifinals.
The Indian duo, fresh from securing India’s Thomas Cup bronze, commenced their campaign with a hard-fought victory over Indonesians Muh Putra Erwiansyah and Bagas Maulana, winning 21-19, 21-23, 21-10. Later in the day, players like Lakshya Sen, Kidambi Srikanth, Malvika Bansod, and Thailand Masters 2026 champion Devika Sihag will also be in action. Srikanth upset eighth seed Loh Kean Yew of Singapore in straight games, 21-14, 21-15, while Lakshya overcame Singapore’s Jia Heng Jason Teh 21-16, 21-17 in 43 minutes.
Devika emerged victorious against N. Nidaira of Japan in the preliminary round, while Bansod, ranked 50th globally and recovering from ACL surgery on her left knee, navigated a tough match against Zhang Wen Yu, winning 13-21, 26-24, 21-13. However, Kharb’s campaign ended in the opening round after a closely contested battle against world No. 4 Chen Yu Fei, resulting in a 21-19, 13-21, 18-21 defeat.
