World Badminton Championships 2018: Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu enter quarter-finals; Kidambi Srikanth ousted

Thomas & Uber Cup - Day 1
Saina Nehwal

While India’s top two badminton queens, Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu did not drop a game on their way to the quarter-finals of the World Badminton Championships 2018, Kidambi Srikanth crashed out of this prestigious tournament in Nanjing, China on Thursday.

2017 Singapore Open Superseries champion B. Sai Praneeth remains the only Indian standing in men’s singles as he made it to the last eight-stage for the first time. But the day belonged to the Indian National Championships-winning mixed doubles duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Ashwini Ponnappa, who upset the World No. 7 pair of Goh Soon Huat and Shevon Jemie Lai.

Both Saina and Sindhu -- former World Championships silver medallists each -- displayed top form against opponents, who were deemed dangerous. Saina made short work of former world champion, Ratchanok Intanon in the first game. The fourth seed never looked at ease and her mounting unforced errors scuppered whatever little chances she had.

Despite the obvious discomfort in dealing with Nehwal, the Thai made a strong comeback towards the fag end of the match and levelled the score to 19-19 in the second game. By then, it was too late and her errors allowed Nehwal to close out the 21-16, 21-19 win in 47 minutes.

Sindhu, who was involved in a gruelling final with Nozomi Okuhara last year, made a ruthless start to her third round match against the ninth seeded Sung Ji Hyun. Refusing to put a foot wrong, she raced through the first game, banking on her highly aggressive play.

The Korean, who had beaten Sindhu in their last meeting, settled into the match in the second game and made the lanky Indian work hard for the points. Sindhu still managed to keep her focus intact and complete the 21-10, 21-18 win in 42 minutes.

Saina next meets the seventh seed and two-time world champion Carolina Marin in a rematch of their 2015 final. Sindhu takes on the eighth seed and defending champion Okuhara in a repeat of their blockbuster final last year.

Fifth seed Kidambi Srikanth slumped to his third consecutive loss to the 39th ranked Daren Liew, extending his wait for his maiden World Championships medal.

Sai Praneeth recorded his first ever win over the 23rd ranked Hans-Kristian Solberg Vittinghus of Denmark, without dropping a game. The effortless 21-13, 21-11 win over his nemesis ensured that he made it to the quarter-finals of the World Championships in just his second appearance.

The 26th ranked Praneeth has an uphill task up next as he faces off against the reigning Asian champion, Kento Momota, who has been the most in-form man on the circuit this season.

A day after knocking out the 15th seeds, the mixed doubles duo of Ponnappa and Rankireddy continue their winning streak as they shocked the seventh seeds Huat and Lai 20-22, 21-14, 21-6 in 59 minutes.

The path gets tougher for them as they now clash with the top seeds and World No. 2 pair of Zheng Siwei and Yaqiong Huang.

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Edited by Sudeshna Banerjee