Saina, Sindhu roll on but face tough tests in quarters; Srikanth falls

Nanjing , August 2 

Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu sailed into the quarterfinals with straight-game wins but it was curtains for Kidambi Srikanth at the badminton World Championships. Saina downed 2013 champion Ratchanok Inthanon of Thailand 21-16 21-19 to set up a meeting with Carolina Marin of Spain. 

Sindhu, seeded third, eased past ninth seed Ji Hyun Sung of South Korea 21-10 21-18 in another third round clash. Sindhu will next play eighth seed Nozomi Okuhara of Japan.

“I am really happy with the performance. It was a good match overall even though I won the first set quite easily. But the second game was not easy. There were a lot of rallies so I had to be consistent and be very patient,” Sindhu said.

Asked about her clash against Okuhara tomorrow, she added: “We have been playing against each other for a while and tomorrow will be yet another one and a very important one.  I can tell you one thing that it will be a long match so I need to be prepared and will give my 100 per cent.”

B Sai Praneeth also eased into the quarterfinals with a comfortable 21-13 21-11 win over Denmark’s Hans-Kristian Solberg Vittinghus. He will next take on sixth seed Kento Momota.

Satwik-Ashwini win

The Indian mixed doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Ashwini Ponnappa also stood one step away from a medal after pulling off a stunning 20-22 21-14 21-6 victory over the Malaysian world No.7 combination of Goh Soon Huat and Shevon Jemie Lai.

However, fifth seed Srikanth’s dream of winning a medal came crashing down after he was outwitted 18-21 18-21 by the experienced Malaysian Daren Liew in a 41-minute clash.

Saina ready for Marin 

Saina showed amazing retrieving skills against Intanon, who is on a comeback trail after recovering from an injury. “It is a very good win. She is known for her deceptive game. The second game was going my way but suddenly she played some difficult strokes she was everywhere and made it 19-19. At that point, Gopi sir told me what to do and I followed that and the game turned in my favour,” Saina said.

“Pressure is less on me now because in the last few tournaments I haven’t been able to cross the quarterfinals and I have played well at the Gold Commonwealth Games and the Asian Championship. I can see that the form sometimes goes here and there but I am happy it is coming back in important events.” 

Talking about her next match against Marin, Saina said: “I have played her at the Denmark Open last, she is quick and aggressive and it would be a challenging match for me and I will just look to give my best.” — PTI