Singapore Open 2022 | Saina Nehwal makes first quarters of the year, HS Prannoy and PV Sindhu advance too
In what turned out to be an outstanding result for former world no.1 Saina Nehwal, the Indian went on beat China's He Bing Jiao at the Singapore Open on Thursday. This means, that Nehwal managed to make it to the first quarters of the year, after being plagued with bad form and injuries.
In a closely contested match, the Indian won in three games 21-19, 11-21, 21-17. Although still not at her best, Nehwal managed to get past the world no.9 Chinese player. With restricted movement and speed, Nehwal still emerged as the better player on the day.
There was hardly anything to separate between the two players in the first game, but Nehwal managed to take the lead towards the end and held on to it. Come the second game, the momentum had shifted, and Bing Jiao totally outclassed the Indian to make a comeback in the match.
In the decider, Nehwal started by scoring the first three points of the game, which gave her momentum. From there on, she maintained her healthy lead, to make it to the first quarters of the year.
On the other hand, PV Sindhu and HS Prannoy made it to the quarters as well. Sindhu came from a game down to beat world No. 59 Thuy Linh Nguyen of Vietnam 19-21, 21-19, 21-18. Meanwhile, HS Prannoy upset world No. 4 Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei 21-14, 20-22, 21-18.