India Open 2022: PV Sindhu advances to quarterfinals after 7 Indians pull out due to COVID

It has been a rocky day for the Indians participating in the 2022 India Open. Seven Indians had to pull out after having tested positive for COVID-19. In the meantime, ace Indian shuttler PV Sindhu continued her winning streak as she qualified for the event's quarterfinals at the KD Jadhav Indoor Hall in New Delhi.

On Thursday, Sindhu defeated fellow Indian Ira Sharma in straight sets (21-10, 21-10) within 30 minutes. The players tarted off in a balanced fashion in both sets before Sindhu upped her ante and took control of the rest of the sets. The number one seed will now take on Ashmita Chaliha in the quarters.

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Earlier, on Thursday, seven Indians, including Kidambi Srikanth, Ashwini Ponappa, Ritika Thaker, Treesa Jolly, Mithun Manjunath, Simran Singhi, and Khushi Gupta, were forced to withdraw. All of them had tested positive for COVID. Consequently, their opponents received walkovers. On the other hand, Sameer Verma had to retire during his game against Brian Yang of Canada after suffering an injury.

"Badminton World Federation (BWF) can confirm that seven players have been withdrawn from the India Open 2022 after testing positive for Covid-19. The players returned a positive result to a mandatory RT-PCR test conducted on Tuesday. Doubles partners deemed close contact with the seven players have withdrawn from the tournament. The players will not be replaced in the main draw, and their opponents will be given a walkover to the next round," read a statement from Badminton World Federation (BWF).

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Among other Indians in the singles, Rahul Yadav Chittaboina lost to Nhat Nguyen of Ireland in the pre-quarters on Thursday. A Upadhyaya too lost her match to Supanida Katethong of Thailand. While Aakarshi Kashyap defeated K Mopati, the former faces Malvika Bansod, who beat Saina Nehwal. Also, T Hemanth lost to L Lam of the USA.