Tough test a waits Indian stars
Saina runs into Marin, Sindhu faces defending champ Okuhara. Srikanth stunned in Rd of 16
NANJING,CHINA: Olympic medallists Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu sailed into the women’s singles quarterfinals with straight-game wins but it was curtains for Kidambi Srikanth at the BWF Badminton World Championships here on Thursday.
Saina, who had clinched a silver and a bronze at the 2015 and 2017 editions, defeated 2013 champion Ratchanok Inthanon of Thailand 21-16, 21-19 to set up a meeting with Olympic champion and two-time world champion, Carolina Marin of Spain.
Later in the day, 2017 silver medallist Sindhu, seeded third, eased past ninth seed Ji Hyun Sung of Korea 21-10, 21-18 in another third round clash.
Sindhu will next play eight seed Nozomi Okuhara of Japan, a rival against whom she lost in the summit clash of the tournament last year.
B Sai Praneeth also eased into the men’s singles quarterfinals with a comfortable 21-13 21-11 win over Denmark’s Hans-Kristian Solberg Vittinghus. He will next take on sixth seed Kento Momoto.
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.
SRIKANTH LOSES
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.
“I had my chances but couldn’t keep the shuttle in. Too many smashes out, too many mistakes. I should have handled it much better,” said Srikanth.
Saina showed amazing retrieving skills against Inthanon, who is on a comeback trail after recovering from an injury.
“It is a very good win. She is known for a deceptive game. Second game was going my way, but suddenly she played some difficult strokes, she was everywhere and made it 19-19,” Saina said.
“At that point, Gopi sir played a big role. He told me what to do and I followed that and the game turned in my favour.”
“Pressure is less on me now because the last few tournaments I haven’t been able to cross the quarterfinals but I have played well at the Commonwealth Games and Asian Championship.
“But 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 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.”
Meanwhile,two-time world champion Chen Long beat Thailand’s Phetpradab Khosit 21-16, 21-11 in a match that lasted 50 minutes. Chen started slowly as Khosit repeatedly attacked the front of the net, but Chen eventually pulled away for the win.