Saina, Srikanth advance at Badminton World Championships

July 31, 2018

Nanjing (China): Indian stars Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth won their respective matches at the Badminton World Championships here on Tuesday.

Saina defeated Aliye Demirbag of Turkey in straight games to enter the third round of the women’s singles category.

Saina fought off a brave effort from her Turkish opponent to cruise to a 21-17, 21-18 victory in just 39 minutes.

The opening game saw a tough battle in the early stages before Saina produced a four-point burst to lead 14-10. She held on to the advantage till the end to win the game.

Saina showcased her class in the second game, scoring at ease as she romped to a win.

The Hyderabad-based Indian is expected to face a tougher challenge in the next round where she will meet an experienced opponent in fourth seed Ratchanok Intanon of Indonesia.

Ratchanok staged a strong comeback to win a tough encounter against the impressive Mia Blichfeldt of Denmark.

The nail-biting see-saw battle, which lasted an hour and 16 minutes, saw Ratchanok carve out a 16-21, 22-20, 21-10 victory.

In the men’s singles category, Srikanth took 37 minutes to defeat Nhat Nguyen of Ireland in straight games.

The Indian, who advanced to the second round, did not have to sweat too much on his way to a 21-15, 21-16 victory over his unseeded opponent.

Srikanth forced the early advantage, taking four consecutive points to open up a 7-2 lead before increasing the gap to 11-5. Nguyen staged a strong fight back with two four-point streaks of his own to level the scores at 13-13.

He subsequently took a slender lead at 15-14, but the Indian came up with an impressive run of seven back to back points to take the opening game.

The second game saw a neck and neck battle till the halfway stage when the two players went into the break with Srikanth in possession of a 11-9 lead.

The Indian came out all guns blazing after the resumption, taking six consecutive points to open up a comfortable 17-10 advantage. Although Nguyen closed the gap to within two points, Srikanth produced another late burst to wrap up the match.

Srikanth will be up against Pablo Abian of Spain in the next round. The unseeded Spaniard defeated Toby Penty of England 21-18, 21-6 in his campaign opener.

In the mixed doubles competition, the unseeded Indian pair of Saurabh Sharma and Anoushka Parikh lost to eighth seeds Chan Peng Soon and Goh Liu Ying of Malaysia by an 18-21, 11-21 margin in 36 minutes.

It was curtains for Pranaav Jerry Chopra and N. Sikki Reddy as well, since they lost 16-21, 4-21 to 12th seeds Hafiz Faizal and Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja of Indonesia. (IANS)

UK expert warns of pandemic worse than Covid in new book

New Delhi: The former chair of the UK Vaccine Taskforce Kate Bingham has in a new book warned of a next pandemic that could come from a million unknown viruses...

Oppn thinking about election in a fundamentally different way: Rahul

New Delhi: Former Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Sunday said the Opposition was thinking about the 2024 Lok Sabha election in a fundamentally different way, and asserted that they were...

Congress to challenge closure of Amethi hospital in Allahabad HC

Lucknow: The Congress in Uttar Pradesh has decided to challenge the order cancelling the registration of Sanjay Gandhi Hospital in Munshiganj in Amethi in the Allahabad High Court on Monday....

Iran, Maldives resume diplomatic ties after 7 yrs Tehran: Iran and the Maldives have announced the resumption of diplomatic relations after a seven-year hiatus. The decision was made "in line...

25 mn employees now returning to offices globally in hybrid work era

New Delhi: As hybrid work becomes the new normal, at least 25 million employees are now returning to office some days in a week globally. According to data shared by...

US auto strike spreads to 38 GM, Stellantis NV parts distribution centers

Chicago: The United Auto Workers (UAW) has expanded its strike against the big three US automakers to 38 General Motors Co. and Stellantis NV parts distribution centers across the US,...

Nijjar’s killing: British Columbia premier suspects Canada holding back information

Toronto: Premier of Canada's British Columbia province David Eby has said that the government is holding back information regarding allegations of foreign interference in Khalistani leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar's killing....

London: Woman thought to be sleeping on flight was dead

London: A 73-year old woman on board a British Airways flight from London to Nice, who was thought to be asleep, was dead, the media reported. Fellow passengers got concerned...

No place for hate in Canada, says Public Safety Dept on online threats to Hindus

Ottawa: Canada on Friday said there is no place for hate in the country amid circulation of an online video in which Hindu Canadians are told to leave the country....

DUSU elections: NSUI, ABVP trade barbs on poll day

New Delhi: The National Students' Union of India (NSUI) on Friday -- during the Delhi University Students' Union (DUSU) polls -- claimed that fake voting was conducted at Lakshmibai College,...

Anurag Thakur cancels China visit after Indian athletes denied entry in Asian Games, Centre lodges protest

New Delhi, Sep 22 (IANS) Minister of Information and Broadcasting and Youth Affairs and Sports Anurag Thakur on Friday cancelled his visit to China for the 19th Asian Games to...

Did arrested J&K cop tamper with evidence in terror related investigation?

Srinagar: There could be much more than corruption and extortion that led to the arrest of a J&K deputy superintendent of police (DySP), Sheikh Aadil Mushtaq, top sources said. “The...

Read Previous

BSF, Assam Rifles sensitised to prevent entry of Rohingyas: Rajnath

Read Next

Economy– RBI monetary policy review, Q1 results drag indices lower

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

WP2Social Auto Publish Powered By : XYZScripts.com