Saina Nehwal, B Sai Praneeth enter pre-quarterfinals of Thailand Open
Saina Nehwal cleared the first round of the Thailand Open after beating Slovakia’s Martina Repiska 21-5, 21-10. In the next round, Saina will face-off against Malaysia's Ying Ying Lee. Meanwhile, in men’s section, B Sai Praneeth also advanced to the pre-quarterfinals of the tournament in Bangkok.
Saina Nehwal started her Thailand Open campaign on a winning note. Starting as a strong contender for the title, Saina thrashed Martina in straight sets 21-5, 21-10 in the opening round. Second-seeded Saina will face Malaysia’s Ying Ying Lee in the pre-quarterfinals.
In another match, Singapore Open champion B Sai Praneeth also registered a win against Malaysia’s R Satheishtharan 21-15 21-13 in the men’s singles category. Meanwhile, national champion Sourabh Verma survived a challenge from compatriot Anand Pawar, before beating him 21-17 20-22 21-14 in men’s singles event. In the women's section Sai Uttejitha Rao earned a hard-fought victory against Indonesia’s Jesica Muljati 13-21 24-22 27-25, after an hour and 16 minutes.
But for the other Indian players it was not their day as P Kashyap, Shreyansh Jaiswal and Subhankar Dey lost their respective matches in the men’s singles competition. On the other hand, Rituparna Das, Reshma Karthik, Sri Krishna Priya Kudaravalli, Sali Rane and Ruthvika Shivani Gadde all stumbled in the opening round of women’s singles.
Kashyap defeated Slovekia’s Milan Dratva 21-6 21-14 in his opening match but in the next round he lost 14-21 18-21 to second seeded Marc Zwiebler of Germany. The match took place less than 12 hours of his first-round clash.
Did you know, Saina Nehwal has the distinction of being the 1st Indian to win a Super Series title.
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