Top Indian shuttlers Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikkanth advanced to the quarterfinals of the Orleans Masters badminton tournament after defeating their respective opponents in women’s and men’s singles here on Thursday.
London Olympics Bronze medallist Saina prevailed over France’s Marie Batomene in the women’s singles second round, while the top-seeded Srikkanth beat Cheam Jun Wei of Malaysia 21-17, 22-20 in a men’s singles third round match.
Running against time to make it to her fourth Olympics, Saina recovered from the opening game reversal to see off world No 65 Marie 18-21, 21-15, 21-10 in a 51-minute clash in the Super 100 event, which is part of BWF’s revised Olympic qualification period.