Title-contenders P V Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth stormed into the quarterfinals but World Championship bronze medalist Saina Nehwal’s run in the French Open ended with a straight game loss at the USD 325,000 Super Series event, here today.
Young Indian doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, ranked 32nd later stunned World No 6 Danish combo of Mads Conrad-Petersen and Mads Pieler Kolding to reach their second quarterfinal of the season.
Olympic silver medallist Sindhu dumped Japan’s Sayaka Takahashi 21-14 21-13 to set up a revenge match against China’s Chen Yufei. The World No 10 Chinese had knocked Sindhu out in the opening round at Denmark Open.
World Championship silver medallist Sindhu had defeated Spain s Beatriz Corrales 21-19 21-18 in the opening round match yesterday.
Srikanth, who was crowned the Denmark Open champion last week, saw off Hong Kong’s Wong Wing Ki Vincent 21-19 21-17 in a 37-minute match. The Indian had beaten Wong in the semifinals at Denmark Open last week.
In the opening match, the World No 8 had emerged victories after his opponent Fabian Roth of Germany retired at 0-3.
In men’s doubles, Satwiksairaj and Chiragdished out another superb performance as they shocked the 2016 European champions Conrad-Petersen and Kolding 22-20 12-21 21-19 to reach the quarterfinals.
The duo, who had reached the quarters at Korea Open as well, had disposed of France s Bastian Kersaudy and Julien Maio 21-12 21-14 in 30 minutes in the opening round.
Former World No 1 Saina, however, failed to get across Japan s World No 5 Akane Yamaguchi, losing 9-21 21-23 in a 39 -minute clash second round clash. This is her second loss to the fifth-seeded Japanese in two weeks. Saina had lost to Yamaguchi in the quarterfinals at Odense.
Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy lost 16-21 14-21 to top-seeded Japanese Misaki Matsutomo and Ayaka Takahashi in women’s doubles.
Sindhu had the match in control as her opponent could grab a slender lead at 9-8 only once in the opening game, while in the second game the Japanese never could topple the Indian.
In the other women’s singles, Yamaguchi, who had finished as runners-up at Odense last week, tore through the opening game, leading from start to finish to earn the bragging rights.
Saina regained her composure in the second, producing a gallant fight as she kept nipping at her opponent’s heels, despite being 7-11 down at the break.
The Indian caught up with the Japanese at 19-19 and had also grabbed a game point at 20-19 but Yamaguchi managed to stay ahead.