As expected, Chinese qualifier Xiao Jia Chen walked into Saina Nehwal's quarter of the draw after the qualifying rounds of the Yonex Sunrise India Open badminton tournament at the Siri Fort Stadium here on Tuesday.
Chen, who knocked out Saina on way to the Asian championship semifinals last week, is expected to test former World No. 1 Denmark's Tine Baun in the pre-quarterfinals if she gets past Indonesia's Aprilla Yuswandari in the opening round on Wednesday.
“Don't be surprised if Chen goes on to win the title,” said National coach P. Gopi Chand about the Chinese, ranked 40th in the world. “She is as strong as some of the top-ranked Chinese girls.”
In fact, a quarterfinal clash between Saina and Chen can be anticipated, with the Indian eager to avenge the loss suffered last week.
Arundhati Pantawane, National finalist in 2011, and Neha Pandit also made it to the main draw after three-game battles.
Arundhati did not have to play the first round after her rival, top-seeded Malaysian Jing Yi Tee, was promoted to the main draw following a withdrawal.
Arundhati then battled for 46 minutes to down Swiss Sabrina Jaquet, ranked 10 places lower at 79. Neha overcame the surprise loss of the second game to get past local girl Mohita Sahdev.
Thailand's Nichaon Jindapon was the other qualifier.
Among the men, the Indians drew a blank after all four qualifiers made it past home challengers.
The talented H.S. Prannoy was among the five Indians to lose in the first round.
He tossed away two match-points in the second game and surrendered to Singapore's Yong Zhao Ashton Chen in three games.
In the second round, Sai Praneeth frittered away three match-points in the decider against Thailand's Suppanyu Avihingsanon.
Sameer Verma, too, could not cash in on three match-points and let Russia's Vladimir Ivanov off the hook.
Jwala-Ashwini advance
Meanwhile, the duo of G. Jwala and Ashwini Ponnappa eased into the women's doubles second round after their first-round rivals, Lok Yan Poon and Ying Suet Tse, the seventh seeds from Hong Kong, withdrew from the competition.
The results (qualifying rounds, Indians unless stated):
Men: Second round: Vladimir Ivanov (Rus) bt Sameer Verma 17-21, 25-23, 21-14; Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk (Tha) bt Anand Pawar 21-12, 21-14; Yong Zhao Ashton Chen (Sin) bt Rohit Yadav 21-13, 21-13; Suppanyu Avihingsanon (Tha) bt B. Sai Praneeth 19-21, 21-19, 23-21.
First round: Ivanov bt Akshit Mahajan 21-16, 21-4; Verma bt Ivan Sozonov (Rus) 21-16, 21-9; Pawar bt K. Nandagopal 21-8, 21-16; Chen bt H.S. Prannoy 14-21, 26-24, 21-19; Yadav bt Vladimir Malkov (Rus) 23-21, 19-21, 21-16; Praneeth bt K. Srikanth 21-12, 21-18; Saensomboonsuk bt Anthony Dumartheray 21-18, 21-15.
Women: Second round: Arundhati Pantawane bt Sabrina Jaquet (Sui) 19-21, 21-13, 21-18; Xiao Jia Chen (Chn) bt Lianne Tan (Bel) 21-18, 21-9; Nichaon Jindapon (Tha) bt Elizabeth Cann (Eng) 21-11, 21-11; Neha Pandit bt Mohita Sahdev 21-17, 22-24, 21-14. First round: Sabrina bt Sayali Gokhale 22-20, 23-21; Chen bt Lydia Li Ya Cheah (Mas) 21-15, 21-16; Lianne bt P.C. Thulasi 21-17, 21-18; Cann bt Tanvi Lad 22-20, 21-15; Jindapon w/o Yigit Neslihan (Tur); Neha bt Trupti Murgunde 21-11, 11-2, retd.; Mohita w/o Rena Wang (USA).
