Ace Indian shuttler PV Sindhu has put behind her early exit from the Badminton Asia Championship 2026 advancing to the quarterfinal of the Thailand Open.
The two-time Olympic medallist and seeded sixth, Sindhu, defeated Ciou – Tong in straight sets of 21-9 and 21-12 in the round of 32 and in mere 28 minutes outplayed Denmark’s Amalie Schulz 21-13, 21-15 in the women’s singles event to secure the quarterfinal against Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi.
Sindhu’s game against Yamaguchi sets up as a marquee quarterfinal clash with the former holding a narrow 15-13 edge in their thrilling head-to-head record. The Indian shuttler was sharp with the footwork and her attacking play closed out another comfortable victory after her opening-round win over Chinese Taipei’s Ciou – Tong.
Devika Sihag has advanced following her victory over Natsuki Nidaira of Japan in a tough three-set match, while Malvika Bansod exhibited great determination to beat Zhang Wen Yu of China 13-21, 26-24, 21-13 despite being in the process of recovering from an ACL reconstruction operation in her left knee.
Unnati Hooda, ranked world No. 48, experienced a setback when she exited in the first round after fighting until the very end against Chen Yu Fei of China, ranked world No. 4. The former Olympic gold medalist narrowly edged out Hooda 21-19, 13-21, 18-21 after a thrilling battle that lasted one hour and 10 minutes.
Elsewhere, In the men’s doubles, the Indian first seeds, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, maintained their fine form with a resounding 21-12, 21-19 triumph against Malaysia’s Bryan Jeremy Goonting and Muhammad Haikal to qualify for the quarter-finals.
Kidambi Srikanth had previously earned significant attention by ousting Singapore’s eighth seed, Loh Kean Yew, 21-14, 21-15 in the first round, whereas Lakshya Sen has made a successful comeback after suffering an injury during the Thomas Cup with a convincing 21-16, 21-17 win over Singapore’s Jia Heng Jason Teh in just 43 minutes.
