The Free Press Journal

Sindhu, Saina sail into quarter-finals

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Top Indian shuttlers P V Sindhu and Saina Nehwal advanced to the women’s singles quarterfin­als after beating their respective opponents in straight games here on Saturday.

Olympic and World Championsh­ip silver medallist Sindhu outwitted local player and world number 22 Gregoria Mariska Tunjung 21-12 2115 in 35 minutes after Commonweal­th Games gold medallist Saina dispatched another crowd-favourite Fitriani, ranked 40th, 21-6 21-14 in another second-round match.

Saina will next face either Thailand’s fourth seed Ratchanok Intanon or Korea’s Sung Ji Hyun, while Sindhu will take on the winner of the match between Sri Lanka’s Kavidi Sirimannag­e and Thailand’s Nitchaon Jindapol.

Commonweal­th Games silver medallists duo of Satwiksair­aj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, however, couldn’t cross the second round after their gallant fight ended with a 17-21, 21-19, 17-21 loss against Korea’s Choi Solgyu and Min Hyuk Kang in men’s doubles.

In women’s singles pre-quarterfin­als, Sindhu zoomed to a 8-1 lead early on before Gregoria fought back to reduce the gap to 7-10. The Indian then unleashed a smash leaving the Indonesia stranded to enter the interval 11-8.

The 19-year-old Indonesian showed glimpses of her skills when she troubled the Indian with her backhand flicks and reverse slices. However, the experience­d Sindhu managed to keep her nose ahead and pocketed the opening game when her opponent hit long and at the net.

In the second game, Sindhu moved to a 6-2 advantage, despite her opponent giving ample display of her defence as she kept returning the shuttle back from difficult positions.

Sindhu was alert, quick on her feet as she made some good judgements to enter the break with a 11-4 lead after Gregoria went wide. With the crowd rooting for her, Gregoria managed to make it 12-15 after winning eight of the next 12 points.

Power and accuracy in her strokes helped Sindhu to move to five match points with a body smash. The match then ended when the Indonesian went wide next.

In the other women’s singles second round match, whatever resistance Saina faced was in the second game as Fitriani, backed by the fans, created a 8-5 lead but the Indian never allowed her rival to shift the momentum.

Saina hit very deep with acute angles which Fitriani struggled to contend with.

Fitriani hit a smash over the lines, attacking the backhand side of Saina at 19-14 to give the Indian her first match point.

Another return from Fitriani sailed over the baseline, sending Saina to the lasteight stage. Fitriani was part of the Indonesian team which won a bronze in the women’s team event.

 ??  ?? Saina in action against Fitriani on Saturday.
Saina in action against Fitriani on Saturday.
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