(Image source from: x.com/Pvsindhu1)
PV Sindhu made history in badminton on Thursday by becoming the first Indian woman to achieve 500 career singles wins as she advanced to the quarter-finals of the Indonesia Masters Super 500. Facing Denmark’s Line Kjaersfeldt in the round of 16, Sindhu remained composed and effective when it was crucial. She secured a straight-games victory of 21-19, 21-18, marking her fifth win out of six encounters against the Dane. This win is especially significant as it holds historical importance. Sindhu is now among only six women’s singles players to reach the 500-win milestone, joining the ranks of Ratchanok Intanon, Tai Tzu Ying, Akane Yamaguchi, Carolina Marin, and Petya Nedelcheva. While this landmark win is her 500th in women’s singles matches, Sindhu's total career victories are at 516, which includes wins in doubles during team events earlier in her career. On the BWF Tour specifically, she boasts an impressive record of 456 wins against 227 losses.
The challenges ahead will only become more difficult. Currently ranked 13th in the world, Sindhu is set to compete against the top seed and World No. 4 Chen Yu Fei from China next. In the men's category, Lakshya Sen made a strong statement with a dominant performance. The seventh seed defeated World No. 42 Jason Gunawan from Hong Kong with scores of 21-10, 21-11 in just 33 minutes, hardly looking troubled. Following a strong showing at last week’s India Open — where he was the only Indian player to make it to the quarter-finals — Lakshya will face Panitchaphon Teeraratsakul in the last eight. The Thai player earned his match against Lakshya by pulling off an unexpected win against Lee Zii Jia, making their meeting anything but easy. Later in the day, Kidambi Srikanth will face a tough challenge as the unseeded Indian prepares to compete against fourth seed Chou Tien Chen in what is expected to be one of the toughest matches of this round.
