Jwala-Diju in quarterfinals of Singapore Open

Olympic-bound Indian mixed doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and V Diju defeated Malaysian duo of Aik Quan Tan and Pei Jing Lai in straight games to reach the quarterfinals of the Singapore Super Series today. The sixth seeded Indian pair beat Tan and Lai 21-15 21-15 inside half an hour at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. They will next take on second seeded Chinese Taipei pair of Hung Ling Chen and Wen Hsing Cheng tomorrow. [caption id=“attachment_353070” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“The sixth seeded Indian pair beat Tan and Lai 21-15 21-15 inside half an hour. AFP”]  [/caption] Jwala and Ashwini Ponnappa, the other Olympic-bound pair, however, failed to cross the pre-quarterfinals hurdle and suffered a 15-21 20-22 defeat at the hands of eight seeds Meiliana Jauhari and Greysia Polii of Indonesia in the women’s doubles. In another women’s doubles match, Indian pair of Pradnya Gadre and Prajakta Sawant suffered a 18-21 15-21 defeat to third seeds Shizuka Matsuo and Mami Naito of Japan. In men’s singles, Ajay Jayaram lost 15-21 14-21 to sixth seeded Vietnamese Tien Minh Nguyen, while RMV Gurusaidutt suffered a 12-21 8-21 loss to Boonsak Ponsana of Thailand in the pre-quarterfinals. Anand Pawar also couldn’t go any further after losing 19-21 17-21 to Viktor Axelsen of Denmark. PTI