Sayaka Takahashi of Japan defeated sixth-seeded PV Sindhu at the All England Open 2022 on Thursday to reach the quarter-finals of the women's singles event.
The world number 13 Japanese shuttler defeated the double Olympic medallist Indian in a thriller by 21-19, 16-21, 21-17 in a match that lasted for titanic one hour and six minutes.
This was Sindhu's third straight loss against the left-hander from Japan. Takahashi will next play her compatriot and tournament second seed, Yamaguchi Akane to see who will make the semi-finals.
The Japanese player gained the upper hand by clinching a closely fought opening game. Sindhu fought back hard with a dominant display in the second game to force a third.
With the match pushing past the 60-minute mark, both players seemed to be struggling physically. Takahashi was able to just stay ahead of a determined Sindhu as she took the victory.
At court 2, the Indian duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty stormed into the quarter-finals with a comprehensive win over the German pair.
Indians defeated the German duo of Mark Lamsfuss and Marvin Seidel by 21-7, 21-7 in just 27 minutes.
Earlier, Lakshya Sen defeated the world number three Anders Antonsen to reach the quarter-finals of the men's singles event. The unseeded Indian defeated the third-seed Danish shuttler by 21-16, 21-18 in a match that lasted for 55 minutes here at Utilita Arena Birmingham.
At Court 4, Olympic medallist Saina Nehwal tried her best but was unable to stop Japan's world number two and second seed Akane Yamaguchi in the women's singles event. It was a very close-run match which the Japanese star won in three games.
Reigning world champion Yamaguchi looked comfortable in the third game as she triumphed 21-14, 17-21, 21-17 in a match that lasted for 50 minutes.
This is the first BWF Super 1000 event of badminton's 2022 BWF World Tour and will culminate with the finals on March 20 at the Arena Birmingham in England.
( With inputs from ANI )
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