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It was an impressive performance by the Indian shuttlers on day three of the $700,000 China Open as Saina Nehwal, Parupalli Kashyap and Kidambi Srikanth sailed into the quarterfinals of the last Superseries Premier tournament of the year.
While sixth seed Saina got the better of the lower ranked Chinese shuttler Qin Jinjing, Srikanth overcame China’s Huan Gao 21-17 19-21 21-14 in a marathon men's singles encounter which lasted for an hour and eighteen minutes. Parupalli Kashyap came from a set down to defeat Xue Song 21-11 11-21 13-21 in a 54 minute match.
Saina Nehwal wins in straight sets
World No. 239 Jinjing took a strong four points lead in the early part of the first game but World ranked 5 Indian shuttler fought back strongly to back level the scores to 8 all. Saina, who is the only Indian shuttler left in this category won three consecutive points when the scores were levelled at 17 all. Saina failed to convert the first game point but grabbed the next opportunity and won the game 21-18.
Second game was a lot similar to first game as Saina rolled three points in quick succession from 18-18 to draw the curtains on the challenge of the 18 year old Chinese ace.
Saina will now play the qualifier and World No. 179 Di Suo of China for a place in semis.
In men’s singles World No. 17 and London Olympics quarterfinalist Parupalli Kashyap defeated the World ranked 60 Chinese shuttler Xue Song in the second round.
Kashyap had a slow start
Kashyap’s start to the match was not quite good as he was trailing by 7 points before the mid game interval of the first game. Leading by 14-10 Song won the next six points to seal the opening game 21-11.
Kashyap made a stunning comeback in the next game as he didn’t gave his opponent even a single chance to come close. From 9-7, Kashyap won six points in a row to take a strong lead of 15-7. This lead proved to be very crucial for the experienced Indian shuttler as he managed to hold on to it till the end and won game with ease by the score of 21-11.
The third game was a lot similar to the second game as Kashyap once again showed off his skills and proved his dominance over the less experienced Chinese shuttler. From 2-1, he won the next nine points in a row to take the score to 11-1. With such a huge lead, Kashyap had absolutely no difficulty in closing the third game 21-13.
Kashyap will next play the winner of the match between top seed Chen Long and German Mark Zwiebler.
Srikanth wins in three sets
India’s no. 1 and World No. 16 K. Srikanth had a tough time against the World No. 43 Chinese shuttler. First game went in the favor of the 21-year-old Indian player as he wrapped the game 21-17.
The second game was a lot more evenly contested. Both the players were fighting hard for each and every point. Chinese shuttler kept his calm towards the end of the game as he grabbed two points in quick succession from 19 all to close the second game 19-21.
The third game was a completely one sided affair as Srikanth completely thrashed his opponent and won the game with ease by a scoreline of 14-21.
Srikanth will now take on the winner of the match between Zhengming Wang and Kento Momota.
