Lakshya Sen defeated China’s Zhu Xuan Chen 21-12, 21-13 in the second round | Photo credit: Getty Images
Indian shuttlers PV Sindhu and Lakshya Sen advanced to the quarter-finals of the $500,000 Thailand Open Super 500 tournament with back-to-back wins in their respective matches here on Thursday (May 14, 2026).
Sindhu, a two-time Olympic medalist and sixth seed, needed just 28 minutes to beat Denmark’s Amalie Schulz 21-13, 21-15 in the second round of women’s singles.
Seventh seed Lakshya, the 2021 World Championship bronze medalist, defeated China’s Zhu Xuan Chen 21-12, 21-13 in a men’s singles clash that lasted 39 minutes.
Sindhu will next face top seed and world number 3 Akane Yamaguchi of Japan while Lakshya will take on Thailand’s second seed Kunlavut Vitidsarn.
India’s top-seeded men’s doubles pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty also advanced to the last-16 stage with a 21-12, 21-19 victory over Malaysia’s Bryan Jeremy Goonting and Muhammad Haikal in 44 minutes.
The world No. 4 Indian duo will next face the sixth-seeded Japanese combination of Takumi Nomura and Yuichi Shimogami.
However, former World No. 1 Kidambi Srikanth crashed out after going down 16-21, 21-11, 18-21 to Chinese Taipei’s World No. 47 Su Li Yang in a tight contest that lasted one hour and 10 minutes.
It was also the end of the road for young Devika Sihag, who had claimed her first Super 300 title at the Thailand Masters earlier this year. He lost 21-23, 11-21 to Pitchamon Opatniputh of Thailand.
Lakshya got off to a good start against Chen, racing to a 6-2 lead before the Chinese player rallied to tie it at 11-11. The Indian, however, immediately changed course, winning six consecutive points to take firm control of the first game.
In the second game, Lakshya looked smarter and more confident as he raced to an 11-5 lead at the interval and never allowed Chen to back off, taking advantage of his opponent’s pressure-induced errors.
Published – May 14, 2026 03:23 pm IST
