Saina Nehwal enters Indo quarters, Sai Dutt advances

Defending champion Saina Nehwal on Thursday entered the quarterfinals of the Indonesian Super Series Premier after registering a comfortable straight-game victory over Sayaka Takahashi of Japan. R M V Gurusaidutt advanced to the quarterfinals of the men’s singles with a hard-fought win over Kazumasa Sakai of Japan, while it was curtains for Sourabh Varma.

World number two Saina took 39 minutes to outplay her 24th ranked opponent 21-13 21-19 in a women’s singles second round match at the Istora Gelora Bung Karno Stadium. The 23-year-old from Hyderabad will take on Carolina Marin of Spain in the quarters. Saina, seeded second, relied on her smashes and superior net play to steer clear of her Japanese rival.  Gurusaidutt prevailed 21-12 9-21 21-19 over Sakai in a contest that lasted a little less than an hour. After a comfortable 12-21 win in the opening game, Gurusaidutt was completely outplayed by his opponent in the second game.

The deciding game was a see-saw battle and the scores were tied at 17-17 before the Indian upped the ante in time to advance to the next stage. He next meets Tommy Sugiarto of Indonesia. In another men’s singles match, Sourabh lost to Pengyu Du 16-21, 6-21.