The Hindu : Sport / Badminton : Saina enters quarterfinals

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Friday, Jan 09, 2009
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Saina enters quarterfinals

Kuala Lumpur: Saina Nehwal defeated Hsiao Huan Chen of Chinese Taipei 21-16, 19-21, 21-19 in the second round to enter the quarterfinal of the Malaysian Super Series badminton here on Thursday.

In the quarterfinal, Saina will face Hongyan Pi of France whom she had defeated in the round-robin league of the World Super Series Masters Finals here last month.

In the first game, Saina opened up a 13-9 lead and although Chen tried to draw level, Saina gradually moved on to 17-13 before wrapping the game at 21-16.

Stung by the reversal, Chen rallied to open an 8-6 lead in the second game and then moved to 11-8. Even though Saina drew level at 12-12, the Chinese Taipei player turned the tables and pocketed and the game at 21-19 to stay afloat.

With the match positioned 1-1, the third game was a virtual cliff-hanger with Chen wresting early initiative and taking a three-point lead at 12-9.

Saina drew level at 12-12 and went neck-and-neck at 14-14, 16-16 and 18-18. At 19-19, Saina broke free and grabbed the next two points to seal the game.

However, in men’s singles Anup Sridhar went down 12-21, 18-21 to World No. 4 Sony Dwi Kuncoro of Indonesia, while World No. 5 Peter Hoeg Gade of Denmark defeated Chetan Anand 21-7, 21-8.

In mixed doubles, the Indian pair of V. Diju and Jwala Gutta lost 21-18, 21-14 by the local pair Kien Keat Koo and Hui Lin Ng in the second round. — PTI

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