India’s P. V. Sindhu put on another outstanding performance, rallying to a three-game win over the United States’ Beiwen Zhang to advance to the women’s singles quarterfinals, but Kidambi Srikanth was eliminated from the French Open Super 750 badminton competition. Sindhu, a two-time Olympic medalist, won her first BWF tour tournament since returning from a knee injury, defeating World No. 10 Zhang 13-21, 21-10, 21-14 to advance to her first quarterfinal of the season.
The world No. 11 will play either Olympic champion and second seed Chen Yu Fei of China or Denmark’s Line Christophersen, putting the contest a stern test for the Indian, who is hoping to win a third medal at the Paris Games.
Srikanth, who defeated Chinese Taipei’s Chou Tien Chen on Wednesday, ran into another hurdle, this time against Guang Zu, and lost in the round of 16, which will concern him because he had a perfect 5-0 record against the Chinese prior to the match.
After struggling for 78 minutes, the former world number one lost 21-19, 12-21, and 20-22 to the world number 17 Chinese.
Sindhu began the women’s singles match with a cross-court winner, but Zhang defended well, engaging the Indian in protracted rallies dominated by a sequence of high throws and clears.
Sindhu struggled with the circumstances as, opting for the backline, the Indian produced too many unforced errors, allowing Zhang to lead 11-7.