In what turned out to be a great day for the Indian shuttlers in the Singapore Open, PV Sindhu, Kidambi Srikanth, and Sania Nehwal marched their way to the quarter-finals after getting the better out of the opponents. While PV Sindhu and Kidambi humbled their challenge in straight sets, Saina Nehwal was pushed to the decider.
PV Sindhu took only 39 minutes to knock out Denmark’s Mia Blichfeldt 21-13 21-19. The Rio Olympics silver-medallist will now face China’s Cai Yanyan in the quarter-finals.
Kidambi Srikanth, too, didn’t make a huge fuss while clearing his Danish hurdle. He defeated Hans-Kristian Solberg Vittinghus 21-12 23-21. The Indian Open finalist will now take on reigning World Number 1 Kento Momota, who knocked out HS Prannoy 21-11, 21-11 in 37 minutes.
India’s veteran shuttler Saina Nehwal, however, had to endure certain hardship en route to the quarter-finals. She won the first set 21-16, lost the second one 18-21, and edged out Thailand’s Pornpawee Chochuwong marginally to clinch the third set and the tie 21-19. She will face her familiar foe, Japan’s Nozomi Okuhara in the quarters.
However, Saina’s husband Parupalli Kashyap had to bid adieu to the competition after losing 9-21 21-15 16-21 to China’s Chen Long.
