World Badminton Championships 2018: Women's Singles Round 3: Saina Nehwal vs Ratchanok Intanon, Live Match Updates

Nehwal def Intanon 21-16, 21-19 to enter the quarter-finals.

Updated: 02 August 2018 15:59 IST - Published: 02 August 2018 14:00 IST

PV Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth will be in action soon today.

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Saina next takes on two-time world champion Carolina Marin to have a shot at another medal.

It will be a rematch of the 2015 World Championships final.

Such a win over such a quality player will definitely give a huge boost to Nehwal's confidence.

What a performance that was from Saina!

Granted Ratchanok wasn't at her best, but Saina never put a foot wrong. From start to finish, she refused to make mistakes and played a spotlessly clean match.

Final score: Nehwal def Intanon 21-16, 21-19 to enter the quarter-finals.

Ratchanok's backhand hits the net and Saina gets the win!!!!!!

Match point for Nehwal

And a fired up Intanon forces Saina to send the shuttle out.

It's 19-19

A big body smash from the front court by the Thai!

Intanon trails 18-19

Things are getting interesting here.

Intanon gets four points on the trot to trail 17-18

Intanon is now targeting the lines in a desperate attempt.

Nehwal still has the lead at 18-16

Again the Thai keeps pushing the shuttle out.

Saina now leads 18-14

What a rally!

In a last-minute fightback, Intanon comes up with a superb crosscourt smash to end a rally as Saina pants.

Intanon now trailing 13-16

Again, the Thai failed to sustain the momentum.

Saina goes up to 14-11.

Intanon has now closed the gap to 10-12 after some spirited display at the net.

It's 11-8 to Nehwal at the midgame interval as Ratchanok late fightback didn't last long.

Ratchanok is not her usual self and keeps making errors. The body language is absolutely not positive from the Thai.

Saina, on the other hand, is sharp and looking ready to pounce on every point.

Saina up 9-5

Ratchanok closed the gap to 3-4 but Saina regained control soon after.

Saina is up 6-3

It's 3-1 for the Indian

Saina picks up from where she left and opens up a 2-0 lead

A backhand flick from the Thai sends the shuttle wide.

First game goes to Nehwal at 21-16

Intanon saves two game points but Saina still has four more at 20-16

Saina now has six game points but the Thai outfoxed Saina at the net to save one.

It continues to be a three-point difference between the two, with Saina currently leading 17-14

Ratchanok is trying to move Saina from corner to corner but is spraying errors from her racquet in the process.

Saina up 15-12

The rallies are getting longer but Saina is coming out on top of most of them.

13-10 to Saina

It's a fightback from the Thai after the break.

She is now trailing by just 1 point.

10-11

The shuttle goes out from Ratchanok.

Saina is up 11-8 heading into the midgame interval.

Five consecutive points for Nehwal now!

She is now in the lead at 10-8

And, like the fighter she is, she has come back to level this at 8-8

Intanon leaps to 8-5 through an effortless display of deception

As expected, it has already turned out to be a competitive affair.

The points are short and fast.

The two are locked at 5-5

Nehwal builds a 2-1 lead

The warmup has been completed and the match is about to get under way.

Hello, and welcome to our coverage of the Badminton World Championships, where Saina Nehwal is set to face off against Ratchanok Intanon.

Saina faces a different kind of opponent -- one that is known for her ability to outfox her rivals with clever mix of guile and disguise. And that is the kind of player, who can hurt Nehwal when the Indian is not at her 100%.

The London Olympic bronze medallist does have a 9-5 edge in their head-to-head meetings and also went on to beat the Thai in their only encounter this year, but their fights turn out to be quite gritty and Saina has to be ready not to concede any cheap point.

Both Sindhu and Saina have been a silver medallist at badminton's flagship event and have loads of experience themselves to know what it takes to beat the best. It remains to be seen if they can apply what exactly is needed on the court and manage to keep errors at bay.