P. V. Sindhu, Lakshya Sen and Kidambi Srikanth registered comfortable wins to book their spots in the round of 16 of the Thailand Open in Bangkok on Wednesday.Malvika Bansod and youngster Devika Sihag also progressed to the second round with the latter notching up her maiden win at the Super 500 level.Two-time Olympic medallist Sindhu, seeded sixth, took down World No. 43 Tung Ciou-Tong of Chinese Taipei 21-9, 21-12 in 33 minutes to set up a second-round clash with Danish World No. 41 Amalie Schulz, another player the Indian has never faced before as she looks to clinch her first title since the Syed Modi International in 2024.World No. 11 Lakshya extended his head-to-head record to 6-0 against Singaporeâs Jia Heng Jason Teh with a 21-16, 21-17 victory in 43 minutes.Barring a few nervous moments towards the end, World No. 29 Srikanth faced no difficulties in defeating eighth-seeded Singaporean Loh Kean Yew 21-14, 21-15 in a rematch of the World Championships 2021 final. The Indian, who won the Thailand Open in 2013, will next face World No. 49 Su Li Yang of Chinese Taipei.Badminton Asia Championships silver medallist Ayush Shetty entered his campaign opener against Kodai Naraoka, the sixth-seeded Japanese, with a 2-1 head-to-head advantage.After conceding the first game, 21-year-old Ayush bounced back to force a decider. However, World No. 9 Naraoka completely outplayed the Indian, ranked 20th in the BWF Rankings, in the third game to record a 21-13, 17-21, 21-4 victory in 59 minutes.READ | Satwik-Chirag into Thailand Open Round of 16, beats Indonesiaâs Erwiansyah-MaulanaThe 21-year-old Devika beat Japanese World No. 26 Natsuki Nidaira 21-19, 13-21, 21-15 in an hour and 11 minutes. Her next opponent will be World No. 28 Hina Akechi, another Japanese player, who defeated World Junior Championships silver medallist Tanvi Sharma 21-17, 21-8.Malvika survived a thriller against World No. 44 Wen Yu Zhang. After conceding the first game, Malvika led 20-14 in the second but the Canadian shuttler not only saved all six game points but also had four match points. The Indian World No. 50 kept fighting and managed to take the fixture to a third game in which she had the upper hand after the change of ends at 11-10.Malvika will be up against reigning champion Chen Yu Fei, who defeated Indian teenager Anmol Kharb, in the round of 16.Anmol, the 19-year-old shuttler from Faridabad, led 11-2 in the decider against Yu Fei. But after the final change of ends, the Chinese World No. 4 raised her level to clinch the match 19-21, 21-13, 21-18 in an hour and 10 minutes.Unnati Hooda had not grabbed a game in her previous three meetings against Pornpawee Chochuwong. While the 18-year-old Indian did manage to open her account in that aspect, it wasnât enough to stop the fourth-seeded Thai shuttler from making a comeback to win 11-21, 21-17, 21-16 in an hour and 12 minutes in front of her home crowd.Later in the day, Isharani Baruah will also be in action in singles.Menâs Singles: [7] Lakshya Sen bt Jia Heng Jason Teh (SGP) 21-16, 21-17; Kidambi Srikanth bt [8] Loh Kean Yew (SGP) 21-14, 21-15; [6] Kodai Naraoka (JPN) bt Ayush Shetty 21-13, 17-21, 21-4; Koki Watanabe (JPN) bt Tharun Mannepalli 21-12, 21-16Womenâs Singles: [6] P. V. Sindhu bt Tung Ciou-Tong (TPE) 21-9, 21-12; Malvika Bansod bt Wen Yu Zhang (CAN) 13-21, 26-24, 21-13; Devika Sihag bt Natsuki Nidaira (JPN) 21-19, 13-21, 21-15; [4] Pornpawee Chochuwong (THA) bt Unnati Hooda 11-21, 21-17, 21-16; [2] Chen Yu Fei (CHN) bt Anmol Kharb 19-21, 21-13, 21-18; Hina Akechi (JPN) bt Tanvi Sharma 21-17, 21-8Mixed Doubles: [2] Mathias Christiansen/Alexandra Boje (DEN) bt Dhruv Kapila/Tanisha Crasto 21-9, 21-15; Tsai Fu Cheng/Sung Yu-Hsuan (TPE) bt Ashith Surya/Amrutha Pramuthesh 24-22, 21-11
