Diju-Jwala ease into Singapore Open quarters

Jwala Gutta and V Diju

Kuala Lumpur: Sixth seeds V Diju and Jwala Gutta entered the quarterfinals of the Li Ning Singapore Open with an easy victory over Malaysian pair Tan Aik Quan and Lai Pei Jing on Thursday. The 21-15 21-15 result gives them an appointment with second seeds Chen Hung Ling and Cheng Wen Hsing of Chinese Taipei.

With most of the top names staying away from the Singapore Open, this is a golden opportunity for the Indian duo to go all the way to their first Superseries title. The Diju-Jwala pair was the only Indian representation left, as the others could not capitalize on the relatively weak draw.

Ajay Jayaram, Guru Sai Dutt and Anand Pawar fell in straight games. Jayaram lost 21-15 21-14 to sixth seed Nguyen Tien Minh, the Vietnamese player whom he has beaten earlier. Guru Sai Dutt was no match for veteran Boonsak Ponsana of Thailand (21-12 21-8), while Anand Pawar was undone by the lanky teen Viktor Axelsen of Denmark, 21-19 21-17.

Although Jwala Gutta had won her first match of the day with V Diju in the mixed doubles, she and Ashwini Ponnappa couldn’t make headway in the women’s doubles, falling to eighth seeds Greysia Polii and Meiliana Jauhari of Indonesia 21-15 22-20.

In the men’s singles, Axelsen was joined in the quarterfinals by Sony Dwi Kuncoro (Ina), who is making a successful comeback from injury.