P V Sindhu, H S Prannoy and Kidambi Srikanth booked their places in the quarter-finals of the Malaysia Masters Super 500 tournament with contrasting wins over their respective rivals, in Kuala Lumpur, on Thursday.
While double Olympic medallist and sixth seed Sindhu outclassed Aya Ohori of Japan in straight games in the women's singles, Prannoy had to dig deep to get the better of Shi Feng Li of China in a tough three-game men's singles contest and Srikanth prevailed over India Open champion and eighth seed Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand.
Taking the court first, World No 13 Sindhu extended her domination over Ohori, ranked 28th, taking just 40 minutes to beat the Japanese 21-16, 21-11 in the round of 16. It was her 13th win over the Japanese in as many meetings.
Sindhu will face China's Yi Man Zhang in the quarters.
World No 9 Prannoy staged a great comeback to beat World No 11 and reigning All England champion Li 13-21, 21-16, 21-11 in one hour and 10 minutes to book his berth in the last-eight stage.
Prannoy will next meet Japan's Kenta Nishimoto, who has claimed victories in 2022 Japan Open and Spain Masters this year.
Coming into the match with a 0-3 head-to-head record, Srikanth notched up a 21-19, 21-19 win over Vitidsarn to also make it to the quarter-finals.
The 2021 World Championships silver medallist will meet Indonesian qualifier Christian Adinata.
Lakshya Sen, however, bowed out of the tournament after losing to Angus Ng Ka Long of Hong Kong 14-21, 19-21.
