China Open: Saina Nehwal enters into pre-quarterfinals round

Shanghai, November 15: Top Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal on Wednesday stormed into the pre-quarterfinals stage of China Open Super Series Premier which is being held in Shanghai, China. Unfortunately, men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty failed to progress in a second round of the tournament.

 

Notably, Saina Nehwal continuing her good form cruised in the pre-quarterfinal stage of China Open after registering an emphatic victory over USA's Beiwen Zhang. Saina defeated USA's Beiwen Zhang by 21-12, 21-13 in a match that lasted for just less than an hour. Nehwal will next face fifth seed, Akane Yamaguchi. The Indian trails the Japanese one to three in a head-to-head battle with their three previous matches resulting in wins for Yamaguchi.

On the other side, in men's doubles, the Indian pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty lost to Chinese pair of Cheng Liu and Nan Zhang by 13-21, 13-21. Sourabh Verma also lost in the men's singles first round to France's Brice Leverdez 14-21, 15-21, 11-21. While in the women's doubles, Ashwini Ponnappa and Sikki Reddy lost 14-21, 15-21 to Ha Na Baek and Chae Yoo Jung of South Korea in the round of 32.

However, the World number two and Rio Olympics Silver medalist PV Sindhu will play her first round match on Wednesday against Sayaka Sato of Japan. HS Prannoy will also begin his campaign. World number two Kidambi Srikanth, who has clinched four titles and reached five finals this season, is not taking part in the tournament due to injury.