Saina Nehwal enters quarterfinal of Thailand Open
Former world no.1 Saina Nehwal advanced to the quarter-final of the Thailand Open on Thursday after securing a straight set win over Malaysia’s Lee Ying Ying 21-11, 21-14 in the pre-quarterfinal clash. In men’s category, Singapore Open champion Sai Praneeth also eased into the quarter-final.
Second-seeded Saina easily passed the hurdle of Lee Ying Ying of Malaysia and registered a straight set win by a margin of 21-11, 21-14 in the women’s singles competition. She will now lock horns with Japanese qualifier Haruko Suzuki in the quarter-final clash on Friday.
In the Men's singles clash, third-seeded B Sai Praneeth defeated Malaysian player Iskandar Zulkarnain 21-13, 21-18 and secured a place in the final eight. Praneeth will now face Thailand's Kantaphon Wang in a bid to reach the semi-finals of the event.
But apart from them, other Indian badminton players failed to perform as Sourabh Verma, despite giving a tough competition, was defeated by France’s Brice Leverdez 16-21, 25-23, 11-21. Sai Uttejitha Rao Chukka couldn’t stand up to the challenge of local girl Pattarasuda Chaiwan and go down 21-15, 21-17.
The Indo-Malaysian mixed doubles combination of Prajakta Sawant and Yogendran Khrishnan also crashed out of the tournament after losing their match to top seeds Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Sapsiree Taerattanachai 10-21, 9-21.
Did you know, Saina Nehwal is the 1st Indian badminton player to have won an Olympic medal, along with being the only Indian to have won the BWF World Junior Championships or to have reached to the final of the BWF World Championships.
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