PV Sindhu, Nehwal sail into quarters; Satwik-Chirag out
Jakarta: Top Indian shuttlers P V Sindhu and Saina Nehwal advanced to the women's singles quarterfinals after beating their respective opponents in straight games here on Saturday.
Olympic and World Championship silver medallist Sindhu outwitted local player and world number 22 Gregoria Mariska Tunjung 21-12 21-15 in 35 minutes after Commonwealth Games gold medallist Saina dispatched another crowd-favourite Fitriani, ranked 40th, 21-6 21-14 in another second-round match.
Saina will next face either Thailand's fourth seed Ratchanok Intanon or Korea's Sung Ji Hyun, while Sindhu will take on the winner of the match between Sri Lanka's Kavidi Sirimannage and Thailand's Nitchaon Jindapol.
Commonwealth Games silver medallists duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, however, couldn't cross the second round after their gallant fight ended with a 17-21 21-19 17-21 loss against Korea's Choi Solgyu and Min Hyuk Kang in men's doubles.
Manu Attri and B Sumith Reddy also lost their men's doubles Round of 16 match against Li JUnhui and Liu Yuchen of China 21-13 17-21 23-25.
In women's doubles quarterfinals, the Indian duo of Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy lost to Chen Qingchen and Jia Yifan of China 11-21 22-24.
In women's singles pre-quarterfinals, Sindhu zoomed to a 8-1 lead early on before Gregoria fought back to reduce the gap to 7-10. The Indian then unleashed a smash leaving the Indonesia stranded to enter the interval 11-8.
The 19-year-old Indonesian showed glimpses of her skills when she troubled the Indian with her backhand flicks and reverse slices. However, the experienced Sindhu managed to keep her nose ahead and pocketed the opening game when her opponent hit long and at the net.
In the second game, Sindhu moved to a 6-2 advantage, despite her opponent giving ample display of her defence as she kept returning the shuttle back from difficult positions.
Sindhu was alert, quick on her feet as she made some good judgements to enter the break with a 11-4 lead after Gregoria went wide.
With the crowd rooting for her, Gregoria managed to make it 12-15 after winning eight of the next 12 points.
Power and accuracy in her strokes helped Sindhu to move to five match points with a body smash. The match then ended when the Indonesian went wide next. In the other women's singles second round match, whatever resistance Saina faced was in the second game as Fitriani, backed by the fans, created a 8-5 lead but the Indian never allowed her rival to shift the momentum.
