Saina sails into quarters, Sindhu sinks in ABC

Wuhan (China), April 28

Saina Nehwal reached the quarterfinals of the Asia Badminton Championship after brushing aside Thailand's Nitchaon Jindapol in straight games here today. The fifth-seeded Indian prevailed 21-14 21-18 over Jindapol to take her head-to-head record to 7-0 against the Thai player.

The world No. 8 will take on China’s third-seeded Shixian Wang next. Saina has a 6-7 head-to-head record against Shixian, and have lost to her in their last two encounters.

Other Indian in the fray, PV Sindhu, however, suffered a narrow 21-13 20-22 8-21 loss against the deceptive Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei in a match that lasted an hour.

Sindhu will be disappointed to blow away a 12-6 lead in the second game. She was leading for most part before Tai caught up at 15-15. Even though the Indian made it 20-19, she could not close the issue. In the decider, she appeared to have run out of steam.

Deepika makes quarterfinal exit at World Cup

Shanghai, April 28

A day after her world-record equalling feat, Deepika Kumari made a shock quarterfinal exit on what turned out to be a forgettable day for the Indians in the individual events of the Archery World Cup at the Yuanshen Stadium here today.

The top-seeded Deepika started off well with two easy wins but stumbled against Denmark’s Maja Jager 4-6 to see her run cut short in the event. Besides Deepika, Laxmirani Majhi and Jayanta Talukdar too made quarterfinal exits in their respective events. As a result, there’s no Indian archer left in contention for medal in the individual events.

The Indians will now bank on the team events and the mixed pair competition.