Indonesian Open Super Series Badminton: Saina reaches quarter-finals
At Jakarta on Thursday, defending champion Saina Nehwal reached the quarter-finals of the Women's Singles in the Indonesian Open Super Series Badminton tournament. The fourth-seeded Saina defeated Petya Nedelcheva of Bulgaria in straight games 21-18, 21-9 in the second round.The Indian challenge in the event is now limited to Saina, as their men's doubles and women's doubles combinations have already been eliminated.
Fourth Seed Saina took just 31 minutes to dispose off Petya 21-18 21-9 and will take on the winner of eighth seed Tine Baun and Japan's Ayane Kurihara in the quarterfinal on Friday.
In the first game, Saina opened up a four-point lead at 6-2 and though the Bulgarian caught up with her at 12-all, the Indian was successful in keeping her nose ahead to pocket it after a close-fight.
The 21-year-old Indian turned more aggressive in the second game and after leading 5-2 kept taking giant strides forward to widen the gap and eventually took the game away from Petya.Saina won the Indonesian Open twice on consecutive years in 2009 and 2010.
Commonwealth Games gold medallist duo of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa continued to have an indifferent form as the Indian pair lost a hard-fought second round match to sixth seeded combo of Meiliana Jauhari and Greysia Polii.
The unseeded Indian pair lost 20-22 21-18 18-21 to their Indonesian counterpart in a women's doubles match which lasted an hour and eight minutes.
Jwala and Ashwini had suffered defeat against South Korean pair of Kyung Eun Jung and Ha Na Kim in the Singapore Open in the first round.
Fourth Seed Saina took just 31 minutes to dispose off Petya 21-18 21-9 and will take on the winner of eighth seed Tine Baun and Japan's Ayane Kurihara in the quarterfinal on Friday.
In the first game, Saina opened up a four-point lead at 6-2 and though the Bulgarian caught up with her at 12-all, the Indian was successful in keeping her nose ahead to pocket it after a close-fight.
The 21-year-old Indian turned more aggressive in the second game and after leading 5-2 kept taking giant strides forward to widen the gap and eventually took the game away from Petya.Saina won the Indonesian Open twice on consecutive years in 2009 and 2010.
Commonwealth Games gold medallist duo of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa continued to have an indifferent form as the Indian pair lost a hard-fought second round match to sixth seeded combo of Meiliana Jauhari and Greysia Polii.
The unseeded Indian pair lost 20-22 21-18 18-21 to their Indonesian counterpart in a women's doubles match which lasted an hour and eight minutes.
Jwala and Ashwini had suffered defeat against South Korean pair of Kyung Eun Jung and Ha Na Kim in the Singapore Open in the first round.
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