Indian shuttlers Saina Nehwal and P V Sindhu entered the quarterfinals of the $750,000 Star Australian Super Series on Thursday after posting comfortable victories in their respective women’s singles second round matches here.
However, India’s campaign was over in both the men’s singles and men’s doubles events. As expected, world No. 8 Saina had an easy outing against compatriot P C Thulasi, who she beat 21-18, 21-15 in a 42-minute battle, while eighth seeded Sindhu took just 31 minutes to overcome Thailand’s Nichaon Jindapon 21-13, 21-7.
The opening game saw some fine exchange of shots between the two Indians with Thulasi giving a good fight to her more experienced and celebrated compatriot.
Though Saina took a 3-0 lead, Thulasi was quick to make it 3-3. Then it was neck and neck battle till 15-15 before the Olympic bronze-medallist shuttler upped the ante.
In the men’s doubles, it was curtains for the two remaining Indian pairs. While Alwin Francis and Arun Vishnu lost 18-21, 9-21 to third seeded combo from Taipei, lee Sheng Mua and Tsai Chia Hsin in round two, Pranaav Jerry Chopra and Akshay Dewalkar went down 13-21, 19-21 to Korea’s Sung Hyun Ko and Baek Choel Shin to bow out of the tournament.
Saina up in rankings
New Delhi: The quarterfinal finish at the Indonesia Open Super Series in Jakarta recently helped london Olympics bronze medallist Saina Nehwal earn a place and reach eighth position in the latest world badminton ranking, released on Thursday. P V Sindhu, meanwhile, remained static at 10th spot in the women’s singles rankings.
Top Indian men’s shuttler Parupalli Kashyap, however, dropped two positions to be at 20th place. The lone Indian to gain a place in the men’s singles ranking is Sourabh Varma, who climbed to 37th, while R M V Gurusaidutt and Anand Pawar lost a position each to be at 35th and 42nd, respectively.