Saina Nehwal and B. Sai Praneeth made short work of their opponents in women’s and men’s singles respectively to reach the quarterfinals of the $120000 Thailand Grand Prix Gold here on Thursday.
Second seed Saina defeated Ying Ying Lee of Malaysia 21-11, 21-14 to set up a clash with Japanese qualifier Haruko Suzuki.
Praneeth didn’t break much sweat in getting across ninth seed Iskandar Zulkarnain of Malaysia 21-13, 21-18.
The third seeded Indian will now face Thailand’s Kantaphon Wangcharoen on Friday. However, it was curtains for Sourabh Verma and Sai Uttejitha Rao Chukka in the men’s and women’s singles competition. While 12th seed Sourabh fought hard before going down narrowly 21-16, 23-25, 21-11 to fifth seed Brice Leverdez of France, Sai Uttejitha Rao lost 21-15, 21-17 to Pattarasuda Chaiwan of Thailand.
The results: Men: B. Sai Praneeth bt Iskandar Zulkarnain (Mas) 21-13, 21-18; Brice Leverdez (Fra) bt Sourabh Verma 21-16, 23-25, 21-11.
Women: Saina Nehwal bt Ying Ying Lee (Mas) 21-11, 21-14; Pattarasuda Chaiwan (Tha) bt Sai Uttejitha Rao Chukka 21-15, 21-17.
