Indonesia Masters: PV Sindhu, Lakshya Sen storm into quarterfinals with straight-game wins

Indian shuttlers P. V. Sindhu and Lakshya Sen both advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2026 Indonesia Masters after delivering commanding straight-game performances in Jakarta on Thursday. Lakshya Sen was the first to secure his spot, needing just over thirty minutes to dismantle Hong Kong’s Jason Gunawan with a clinical 21-10, 21-11 victory.

PV Sindhu, Lakshya Sen advance to Indonesia Masters' quarters

On the women’s side, two-time Olympic medalist P. V. Sindhu faced a tougher challenge against a familiar opponent, Denmark’s Line Kjaerfeldt. In a match lasting 43 minutes, Sindhu maintained her composure to edge out the Dane 21-19, 21-18. This victory marked Sindhu’s fifth win in six meetings against Kjaerfeldt and underscored her continued dominance in their head-to-head rivalry.

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Beyond the tournament progression, this victory served as a historic milestone for Sindhu, who became the first Indian and only the sixth women’s singles player in history to achieve 500 career wins. Boasting a career win percentage of 68.3% across 732 matches, she now faces a high-stakes quarterfinal clash against the tournament’s top seed and World No. 4, Chen Yu Fei of China.

The upcoming quarterfinal between P. V. Sindhu and Chen Yu Fei promises to be a tightly contested affair, as their head-to-head history is incredibly close. Across 13 previous meetings, the Chinese star holds a narrow 7-6 lead over the Indian champion. Sindhu will be particularly motivated for this encounter, as she seeks to break a winless streak against Fei that stretches back to 2019.

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Kidambi Srikanth eliminated

While Sindhu and Lakshya Sen celebrated victories, it was a difficult day for other Indian contenders in Jakarta. In the men’s singles Round of 16, Kidambi Srikanth struggled to find his rhythm and was eliminated by Chinese Taipei’s Chou Tien-chen in a lopsided 11-21, 10-21 defeat.

In the women's singles draw, young talent Anmol Kharb showed immense promise by taking the opening game against former World Champion Nozomi Okuhara. However, the experienced Japanese veteran eventually took control of the match, resulting in a 21-16, 14-21, 12-21 loss for Kharb.