Glasgow, Aug 23:
Saina Nehwal led the charge as Indian juggernaut continued to roll at the World Championship with Kidambi Srikanth and B Sai Praneeth entering the pre- quarterfinals of singles events, here today.
After Saina brushed aside the challenge of Sabrina Jaquet in straight games and Praneeth survived a scare from Anthony Sinisuka Ginting, Srikanth steamrolled France’s Lucas Corvee to keep India in the hunt for a medal.
London Olympics bronze medallist Saina hardly broke a sweat as she cruised past her Swiss rival 21-11 21-12 in just 33 minutes.
“It was a tricky match I felt. Sabrina is a formidable opponent but I am happy that I overpowered her nicely in the match,” 12th seed Saina said after the match.
“I think it is always tough to play first round but once you get used to the conditions, it gets better and better.”
Saina will next take on second seed Sung Ji Hyun, who defeated India’s Tanvi Lad 21-9 21-19. The 2010 Commonwealth Games champion has a 7-2 head-to-head record against the Korean and most recently she beat her at the Australian Open in June.
World No. 8 Srikanth also dished out a clinical performance, beating Lucas 21-9 21-17 to set up a clash with 14th seed Anders Antonsen of Denmark tomorrow.
Earlier, Singapore Open champion B Sai Praneeth bounced back from a game down to outwit World No. 26 Indonesian Anthony 14-21 21-18 21-19 that lasted an hour and 12 minutes.
“It was a very tough match. The shuttles were really slow and so the rallies went longer. I was getting caught initially and he was playing very fast. I could not match him initially but slowly adjusted to his speed. He is a tough player and his game has improved a lot since I last played him.
“I am really happy to win and now I am focused on my next match,” added the World No. 19 Praneeth will take on either Germany’s Marc Zwiebler or Chinese Taipei’s Chou Tien Chen tomorrow. (PTI)
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