Bangkok: India’s No. 2 seed women’s singles player P.V Sindhu has advanced into the Thailand Open semi-finals by securing a 21-17, 21-13 victory over Soniia Cheah of Malaysia in 26 minutes on Friday.
Despite the loss, 25-year-old Cheah who advanced to her first ever quarter-finals of a BWF Super 500 World Tour event, told reporter it was a good experience for her to play against Sindhu.
“It was the first time I played against Sindhu. It’s a valuable experience for me because she has good speed and I can definitely learn something from her,” said Cheah.
“I’ve done my best, I am going back home to continue training and to improve my weaknesses for the next tournament,” added Cheah.
Sindhu will play Gregorian Mariska of Indonesia in the semi-finals.
In other women’s singles quarter-finals, No. 7 seed Zhang Beiwen of USA battled back from a set down to upset the No. 1 seed Akane Yamaguchi, eventually winning in three sets 14-21, 21-19, 21-19. Zhang will take on No. 4 seed Nozomi Okuhara of Japan in the final four.
Meanwhile, Malaysia’s sole representative in the men’s doubles pair, Aaron Chia/Soh Wooi Yik have crashed out of the tournament after losing to Bodin Isara/Maneepong Jongjit of Thailand 14-21, 12-21 in 37 minutes. Isara/Jongjit will play Hiroyuki Endo/Yuta Watanabe of Japan on Saturday.
