New Delhi : Star shuttlers Saina Nehwal and P V Sindhu notched up contrasting victories on Thursday to set up a mouth-watering quarterfinal clash at the Yonex-Sunrise India Super Series badminton tournament at the Siri Fort Sports Complex here.
London Olympics bronze medallist Saina, who had struggled past Pornpawee Chochuwong in the finals of Malaysia Masters in January, brushed aside the 19-year-old Thai girl 21-14 21-12 in a lop-sided women’s singles contest.
Rio Olympics silver medallist Sindhu then staved off the challenge of Japan’s Saena Kawakami 21-16 23-21 to set up a quarter-final clash against world no. 8 Saina tomorrow.
Earlier, Sameer Verma continued his rampaging run, notching up another stunning win over higher-ranked Hun Yu of Hong Kong in straight games to emerge as the lone Indian hope in men’s singles competition.
The Hong Kong Open finalist, Sameer reached the quarterfinals with a shocking 21-17 21-15 win in a 40-minute match. The 22-year-old from Dhar, who had clinched his maiden Grand Prix Gold event at Syed Modi Internationals in January, will face Denmark’s Anders Antonsen who advanced after German Marc Zwiebler conceded a walkover.
Saina and Sindhu have met just once in an international competition — at the 2014 Syed Modi International. Saina had won that match in straight games. They had played against each other in PBL early this year with Sindhu having an upper hand this year.
“Anything can happen tomorrow in this fast court where attacking is difficult, and also playing a rally game is also tough. It is very difficult to control the shuttles,” Saina said.
Olympic champion Carolina Marin of Spain also reached the quarterfinals at the expense of India’s national champion Rituparna Das, who went down 13-21 11-21 in a one-sided contest.
A more relaxed Saina was on display as she played within herself, analysing her mistakes, and often breaking into a smile. The Indian was not challenged much by World No. 34 Pornpawee as Saina always had the upper hand in the 33-minute match.
The older of the Verma brothers, Sourabh was engaged in a fierce battle with another Hong Kong shuttler when Sameer took the court and while he completed his victory with consummate ease, Sourabh blew a 19-16 lead in the decider, despite making a roaring comeback in the second game where he had led from start to finish.
Former champion Kidambi Srikanth had such an off day that he completely misjudged the length of the shuttle and struggled with his strokes and got buried in a heap of unforced errors.
After 25 minutes, Rio Olympics bronze medallist Viktor Axelsen ended Srikanth’s agony with a 21-7 21-12 win.
