Saina tames former world champ to storm into pre-quarters

New Delhi: Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal notched up a thrilling three-game victory over Chinese Lu Lan in the opening round to advance to the pre-quarters of the Thailand Grand Prix Gold in Bangkok on Wednesday. [caption id=“attachment_22684” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Saina Nehwal beat China’s Lu Lan 21-17, 14-21, 21-18 to move into the pre-quarters of the Thailand Grand Prix Gold on Wednesday. Regis Duvignau/Reuters”] [/caption] World number four and top seed Saina needed an hour to beat the 2009 World champion 21-17, 14-21, 21-18 in the opening round. Commonwealth games bronze medallist P Kashyap and promising shuttler Sourabh Verma also registered contrasting wins to enter the pre-quarterfinals in the men’s singles category. India’s top men’s singles player Kashyap, seeded 14th, brushed aside Poodchalat Pisit 21-17, 9-21, 21-11 in 52 minutes before going past Indonesian Sukamta Evert 21-13, 21-14 in the second round. The Hyderabadi will be up against Malaysian Mohamad Arif Abdul Latif later today. Sourabh also made a resounding start to his campaign beating Andre Kurniawan Tedjono 15-21, 21-19, 22-20 in an hour and 11 minutes in the first round. The Madhya Pradesh lad then saw off Jen Hao Hsu of Chinese Taipei 21-17, 20-22, 21-16 to set up a clash with Malaysian qualifier Beng Hong Kuan in the third round. Compatriot RMV Gurusai Datt, however, could not make it to the pre-quarters after losing a gallant battle against 16th seed Choong Hann Wong of Malaysia 13-21, 21-19, 12-21. Guru had defeated Malaysian Kwong Beng Chan 21-10, 20-22, 21-10 in the first round. Ajay Jayaram too failed to advance to the second round, going down to fourth seed Chen Jin of China 12-21, 21-15, 18-21 at the CU Sport complex. The Mumbaikar had beaten Chinese Taipei’s Tien Chen Chou 21-14, 21-17 in a 35-minute first round match. Arundhati Pantawane, a gold medallist in the ranchi National Games, failed to qualify after losing the third qualifying match against Hong Kong’s Hung Yung Chan on Wednesday. PTI