Badminton Worlds: Saina, Sindhu, Ashwini-Satwik, Praneeth in quarters (Lead)
Thursday - August 2, 2018 9:50 pm ,
Category : SPORTS
Badminton Worlds: Saina, Sindhu, Ashwini-Satwik, Praneeth in quarters (Lead)
Nanjing (China) Aug 2 (IANS) India s Saina Nehwal P.V. Sindhu B. Sai Praneeth and the mixed doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Ashwini Ponnappa advanced to the quarter-finals while Kidambi Srikanth suffered an upset in the pre-quarterfinals of the Badminton World Championships here on Thursday.
Saina defeated Thai fourth seeded Ratchanok Intanon 21-16 21-19 in 47 minutes to enter the women s singles quarter-finals for a championship record eighth consecutive time.
Saina took her time to settle down and Intanon gave her a tough time in the early stages of the opening game. Intanon was leading 8-5 at one point but Saina took six consecutive points to take the lead.
The Indian a two-time World Championships medallist continued to dominate after the break to take the first game by a comfortable margin.
The second game was a tighter affair with both players fighting neck and neck till the very end. But with the scores tied at 19-19 Saina took two back to back points to clinch the issue.
"Everywhere she was playing all those difficult shots that I have seen Ratchanok playing. I would say after 19 all those two points I think Gopi Sir really played a big role there " she said.
"With those two points the strategy really mattered the way he told me what to do and I just followed that I think the game really turned into my favour but i would say the last two points were all about strategy."
Third seeded Sindhu followed Saina s path to the last eight round after moving past South Korean ninth seed Sung ji Hyun 21-10 21-18 in 42 minutes.
Sindhu caught a brilliant start going 9-1 up in no time. Even though Sung improved her game after the mid-game interval Sindhu held an 18-8 lead before pocketing the game 21-10.
In the second game Sung looked determined opening up a 9-2 lead. But Sindhu slowly picked momentum and equalised at the 13-point mark before leading 18-15. Sung continued to slide as she lost the second game 18-21.
"Overall it was a good match and there were lot of rallies so I had to be consistent and very patient " the Indian three-time medallist at the World Championships said.
In the quarter-finals on Friday Saina and Sindhu will meet Spanish seventh seed Carolina Marin and defending champion Nozomi Okuhara respectively. While two-time world champion Carolina defeated 15th seed Sayaka Sato of Japan 21-7 21-13 in the third round Okhuhara got past Goh Jin Wei 21-18 22-20.
Chinese Taipei top seed Tai Tzu Ying will meet Chinese sixth seed He Bingjiao for a place in the semi-finals.
In the men s singles world No.39 Daren Liew of Malaysian upset fifth seeded Srikanth 18-21 18-21 in 41 minutes. Liew upped the ante just after the mid-game interval in the first game taking a 17-11 lead which proved vital as he won 21-18.
The second game witnessed a see-saw battle but Liew orchestrated a superb finish by winning three consecutive game when they were tied 18-18.
However world No.26 B. Sai Praneeth brought cheers to the Indian camp by defeating No.23 Hans-Kristian Vittinghus of Denmark 21-13 21-11 in 39 minutes.
In the quarter-finals on Friday Praneeth will take on Japanese rising star Kento Momota who defeated Denmark s 16th seed Anders Antonsen 13-21 21-17 21-8.
Chinese legend Lin Dan suffered a 15-21 9-21 defeat to compatriot third seed Shi Yuqi who will meet Chinese Taipei s Chou Tien Chen on Friday.
Defending champion and top seed Viktor Axelsen of Denmark two-time champion Chen Long will face-off in the Round-of-eight.
In the mixed doubles unseeded mixed doubles pair of Satwik and Ashwini upset Malaysian seventh seeds Goh Soon Huat and Shevon Jemie Lai 20-22 21-14 21-6 in 59 minutes.
In the quarter-finals Satwik-Ashwini will run into Chinese top seeds Zheng Siwei and
Huang Yaqiong who overcame Indonesian 12th seeds Hafiz Faizal and Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja 21-15 21-13.
--IANS pur/vm
Saina defeated Thai fourth seeded Ratchanok Intanon 21-16 21-19 in 47 minutes to enter the women s singles quarter-finals for a championship record eighth consecutive time.
Saina took her time to settle down and Intanon gave her a tough time in the early stages of the opening game. Intanon was leading 8-5 at one point but Saina took six consecutive points to take the lead.
The Indian a two-time World Championships medallist continued to dominate after the break to take the first game by a comfortable margin.
The second game was a tighter affair with both players fighting neck and neck till the very end. But with the scores tied at 19-19 Saina took two back to back points to clinch the issue.
"Everywhere she was playing all those difficult shots that I have seen Ratchanok playing. I would say after 19 all those two points I think Gopi Sir really played a big role there " she said.
"With those two points the strategy really mattered the way he told me what to do and I just followed that I think the game really turned into my favour but i would say the last two points were all about strategy."
Third seeded Sindhu followed Saina s path to the last eight round after moving past South Korean ninth seed Sung ji Hyun 21-10 21-18 in 42 minutes.
Sindhu caught a brilliant start going 9-1 up in no time. Even though Sung improved her game after the mid-game interval Sindhu held an 18-8 lead before pocketing the game 21-10.
In the second game Sung looked determined opening up a 9-2 lead. But Sindhu slowly picked momentum and equalised at the 13-point mark before leading 18-15. Sung continued to slide as she lost the second game 18-21.
"Overall it was a good match and there were lot of rallies so I had to be consistent and very patient " the Indian three-time medallist at the World Championships said.
In the quarter-finals on Friday Saina and Sindhu will meet Spanish seventh seed Carolina Marin and defending champion Nozomi Okuhara respectively. While two-time world champion Carolina defeated 15th seed Sayaka Sato of Japan 21-7 21-13 in the third round Okhuhara got past Goh Jin Wei 21-18 22-20.
Chinese Taipei top seed Tai Tzu Ying will meet Chinese sixth seed He Bingjiao for a place in the semi-finals.
In the men s singles world No.39 Daren Liew of Malaysian upset fifth seeded Srikanth 18-21 18-21 in 41 minutes. Liew upped the ante just after the mid-game interval in the first game taking a 17-11 lead which proved vital as he won 21-18.
The second game witnessed a see-saw battle but Liew orchestrated a superb finish by winning three consecutive game when they were tied 18-18.
However world No.26 B. Sai Praneeth brought cheers to the Indian camp by defeating No.23 Hans-Kristian Vittinghus of Denmark 21-13 21-11 in 39 minutes.
In the quarter-finals on Friday Praneeth will take on Japanese rising star Kento Momota who defeated Denmark s 16th seed Anders Antonsen 13-21 21-17 21-8.
Chinese legend Lin Dan suffered a 15-21 9-21 defeat to compatriot third seed Shi Yuqi who will meet Chinese Taipei s Chou Tien Chen on Friday.
Defending champion and top seed Viktor Axelsen of Denmark two-time champion Chen Long will face-off in the Round-of-eight.
In the mixed doubles unseeded mixed doubles pair of Satwik and Ashwini upset Malaysian seventh seeds Goh Soon Huat and Shevon Jemie Lai 20-22 21-14 21-6 in 59 minutes.
In the quarter-finals Satwik-Ashwini will run into Chinese top seeds Zheng Siwei and
Huang Yaqiong who overcame Indonesian 12th seeds Hafiz Faizal and Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja 21-15 21-13.
--IANS pur/vm
