2021 Denmark Open | Sameer Verma shocks Anders Antonsen to reach quarter-final

In what has been a dramatic turn of events, India's Sameer Verma outclassed local hero and world no. 3 Anders Antonsen in straight sets to qualify for the quarter-finals of the ongoing 2021 Denmark Open. Trailing 1-5 in the head-to-head count, Sameer displayed great athleticism and tactical supremacy to win the match 21-14, 21-18, in a match that lasted 50 minutes. The Indian will be up against Indonesia's Tommy Sugiarto in the quarter-final fixture.

Meanwhile, Lakshya Sen has been eliminated by Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen in straight sets 15-21, 7-21 in their second-round clash.

Indian shuttler PV Sindhu managed to make it to the quarters of the Denmark Open on Thursday, after a hard-fought 21-16, 12-21, 21-15 win over Busanan Ongbamrungphan of Thailand. After winning the first game with ease, the Hyderabadi was stretched in the second, and her Thai opponent managed to make it 1-1.

But Sindhu went for the kill in the third game and pocketed the match to progress to the next round. Now the challenge will get stiffer for the Indian, as she will be up against South Korea’s AN Seyoung, who happens to be the world No. 8.

Earlier on Thursday, former world no.1 Kidambi Srikanth had lost his second-round match against Japan's Kento Momota 23-21, 21-9. This was Srikanth's 10th straight loss against the Japanese. But Srikanth had started on a positive note in the match and had a lead of 9-3 over the Japanese in the first game. 

It was then that Momota upped the ante, and stunned Srikanth with his deception and swift movement on the court. 

In the mixed doubles, the pair of Dhruv Kapila and N Sikki Reddy too failed to make the quarter-finals as they lost 21-17, 19-21, 21-11 to Chun Man Tang and Ying Suet Tse of Hong Kong.