Saina Nehwal, Parupalli Kashyap, K Srikanth enter quarters of China Open
Fuzhou (China): London Olympic bronze medallist Saina Nehwal and top Indian male shuttlers Parupalli Kashyap and K Srikanth entered the quarter-finals of the China Open Super Series Premier after posting contrasting wins in their respective second round matches here on Thursday.
World No. 5 Saina got the better of Qin Jinping of China 21-18 21-18 in a 43-minute contest in the women’s singles match at the Haixia Olympic Sport Center. In men’s singles second round, Commonwealth Games gold medallist Kashyap fought back from a game down to topple China’s Xue Song 11-21 21-11 21-13 in 54 minutes, while Srikanth also faced a tough challenge from another Chinese, Gao Huan, before prevailing 21-17 19-21 21-14 in a marathon encounter that lasted an hour and 18 minutes.
Sixth seeded Saina was made to work hard by the Chinese qualifier before the Indian used all her experience to wrap up the issue in her favour and advance to the next stage.
Saina will now take on another Di Suo of China in the quarterfinals. Both the Indian men in the fray today — Kashyap and Srikanth — were stretched to three games before they managed to hold on to their nerves to emerge victorious.
Kashyap will next face the winner of the match between world no. 2 Chen Long and Marc Zwiebler while Srikanth will be up against the winner of another second round tie between Zhengming Wang and Kento Momota.
