Indian Open 2016: Lin Dan, Lee Chong Wei shocked; Saina Nehwal safely into quarter-finals

New Delhi: Defending champion Saina Nehwal and two-time World Championship bronze medallist PV Sindhu advanced to the quarterfinals but it turned out to be a dismal day for star shuttlers Lin Dan and Lee Chong Wei, who crashed out of the India Open Super Series in New Delhi on Thursday. Sindhu was a little circumspect during the match and committed a few unforced errors before surpassing Thailand s Busanan Ongbumrungphan 17-21 21-19 21-16 in a women’s singles match that lasted an hour and 16 minutes here. She will next take on Korea’s Bae Yeon Ju, who beat Japan’s Yui Hashimoto 21-16 21-10 in another match. [caption id=“attachment_2673774” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File photo of Saina Nehwal. AFP[/caption] Later in the day, Saina saw off Nitchaon Jindapol of Thailand 21-19 21-14 to set up a clash with Korean fifth seed Sung Ji Hyun. However, the highlight of the day was the stunning losses of two-time silver medallist Lee Chong Wei and five-time World Championship Lin Dan, considered to be the biggest contenders for the Rio Games gold medal. While Korea’s Son Wan Ho stunned the six-time All England champion Lin Dan of China, seeded fourth, 21-13 22-20, former World no. 1 Lee, top seed, suffered a 19-21 19-21 loss to Hong Kong’s Wei Nan, ranked World No. 14. Two more top 10 players bite the dust in men s singles at the Siri Fort Sports Complex here. While Xue Song saw off Denmark Jan O Jorgensen, seeded 3rd, 21-18 15-21 21-14 to emerge as the only surviving Chinese in men’s singles, Germany’s Marc Zwiebler stunned Chinese seventh seed Tian Houwei, who had reached the finals of the All England Championship, 18-21 21-19 23-21 in a thrilling contest in the men’s singles. Among other Indians, Rituparna Das sank without trace against fourth seed Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand 9-21 4-21 in just 21 minutes in a women’s singles clash. In women’s doubles, Mohita Sahdev and Sanjana Santosh defeated compatriot Ch Poornima and Rachita Sahdev 21-16 21-7. They will meet Japanese combo of Naoko Fukuman and Kurumi Yonao. Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy suffered a 19-21 12-21 loss to Chinese Taipei’s Chen Hung Ling and Chi-Lin Wang, while Jishnu Sanyal and Shivam Sharma lost 17-21 15-21 to Chinese Taipei’s Lee Sheng Mu and Tsai Chia Hsin in another men’s doubles match. Indian pair of Gauri Asaji and Karishma Wadkar also suffered an embarrasing 5-21 7-21 loss to top seeds Nitya Krishinda Maheswari and Greysia Polii of Indonesia in women’s doubles, while Manu and Ashwini Ponnappa also lost 10-21 17-21 to Chinese pair of Zhang Wen and Jia Yifan.