Hylo Open: Sindhu and Lakshya into quarters as Bansod, Baruah bow out

PV Sindhu and Lakshya Sen progressed to the quarter-finals of the Hylo Open Super 500 in Saarbrucken, Germany on Thursday, while Malvika Bansod and Isharani Baruah were eliminated from the tournament.

Sindhu, a two-time Olympic medallist, carried momentum from her runner-up finish at the French Open into the German event and had earlier beaten Prakriti Bharath in the opening round; she is set to meet Amalie Schulz in the quarter-finals.

In the second round, Sindhu defeated France's Rosy Oktavia Pancasari 21-9, 21-6 in 26 minutes, taking 42 of the 57 points played as the second seed dominated the match from the start.

Lakshya Sen required three games to reach the last eight, prevailing against compatriot Kiran George 21-15, 18-21, 21-12 in a 54-minute contest; Sen won the first game, George took the second, and Sen pulled clear in the decider. Sen will next face the winner of the tie between Croatia's Aria Dinata and Finland's Kalle Koljonen.

Malvika Bansod lost 11-21, 17-21 to Canada's Wen Yu Zhang in 31 minutes, struggling in the opening game before offering stronger resistance in the second but failing to force a deciding set.

Isharani Baruah was beaten 14-21, 19-21 by Denmark's eighth seed Line Hojmark Kjaersfeldt in 39 minutes; Isharani found the first game difficult but pushed Kjaersfeldt more in the second, with the Dane closing out the match in the closing stages.

India's women's singles draw remains active, with sixth seed Unnati Hooda scheduled to face Denmark's Frederikke Ostergaard and Anmol Kharb slated to meet third seed Line Christophersen in upcoming matches.