Saina in Last 8, Jwala bows out

New Delhi: In past years, the Yonex-Sunrise India Open Super Series badminton has haunted home favourite Saina Nehwal. Blame it to home pressure or nerves; the world No.8 had failed to get past the second round in the last three editions here.

But on Thursday, Saina cruised into the women’s singles quarterfinals here.

Saina, seeded eighth, took 35 minutes to overcome unfancied Natcha Saengchote of Thailand 21-15, 21-12, and will now face Chinese third seed Wang Yihan in the quarterfinals on Friday.

Meanwhile, Parupalli Kashyap marched on in the men’s singles, thanks to the confidence he gained from his Swiss Open semi-finals appearance. Kashyap beat his spirited sparring partner R.M.V. Gurusaidutt 21-15, 16-21, 21-11 in a gruelling one hour match.

Among the other Indians, former national champions Sayali Gokhale and Trupti Murgunde were ousted by their respective opponents.

In the women’s doubles, Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa faltered against China’s Qing Tian and Yunlei Zhao losing 13-21, 19-21.

At 17-20, Jwala and Ashwini showed glimpses of forcing a decider after saving two match points, but it was too little too late.

For Kashyap, Gurusaidutt was a familiar opponent, having played him almost every day in practice games at the Gopichand Academy. But Kashyap knew he had to be patient thanks to his opponent’s “good defensive game and ability to cut down the pace of rallies.”

“It was a mentally tough game. Guru had beaten me twice earlier, so I was under pressure. I am senior to him in the Academy and Guru always plays his best against me,” he said.