Saina Nehwal storms past Intanon, sets World Championships record

India's Saina Nehwal overcame 2013 World Champion Ratchanok Intanon 21-16, 21-19

Indian star Saina Nehwal defeated Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand in straight games to enter the quarter-finals, but it was curtains for Kidambi Srikanth at the Badminton World Championships yesterday. The 10th seeded Hyderabad-based shuttler defeated her fourth seeded opponent 21-16, 21-19. Saina thus became the first ever women's singles player to reach eight consecutive quarter-finals at the World Championships.

Saina will meet seventh seed Carolina Marin of Spain in the last eight stage. "It is a good win. She is known for a deceptive game. Second game was going my way, but she played some difficult strokes and made it 19-19. At that point, Gopi sir played a big role. He told me what to do and the game turned in my favour," Saina said.

'Less pressure'
"There is less pressure on me now because in the last few tournaments, I haven't been able to cross the quarters but I have played well at the Commonwealth Games and Asian Championship. But I can see that form goes here and there, but I am happy it is coming back in important events." Talking about her next match against Marin, Saina said: "I have played her at Denmark Open last, she is quick and aggressive and it would be a challenging match and I will look to give my best."

India's Kidambi Srikanth

Liew too good for Srikanth
Meanwhile, fifth seed Srikanth's dream of winning a medal came crashing down after he was outwitted 18-21, 18-21 by the experienced Malaysian Daren Liew. "I had my chances, but couldn't keep the shuttle in. Too many smashes out, too many mistakes. I should have handled it much better," said Srikanth. Earlier, PV Sindhu sailed into quarter-finals. Last edition's silver medallist, seeded third, eased past ninth seed Ji Hyun Sung of Korea 21-10, 21-18. "I am really happy with the performance. It was a good match overall even though I won the first set quite easy. But the second game was not easy. There were lot of rallies so I had to be consistent and patient," Sindhu said.

B Sai Praneeth also eased into the quarter-finals with a comfortable 21-13, 21-11 win over Denmark's Hans-Kristian Solberg Vittinghus. He will next take on Kento Momoto. The Indian mixed doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Ashwini Ponnappa pulled off a stunning 20-22, 21-14, 21-6 victory over the Malaysian World No. 7 combination of Goh Soon Huat and Shevon Jemie Lai.

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