Sunrise BWF India Super series: Saina to face Yihan Wang

London Olympics bronze medallist Saina Nehwal and compatriot P Kashyap took their designated spots in the quarterfinals of the Yonex Sunrise BWF Metlife India Superseries with contrasting wins in the second round here. Eighth seed Saina defeated Thailand's Natcha Saengchote 21-15, 21-12 in 35 minutes in the women’s singles second round while Kashyap needed almost an hour to overcome the challenge of compatriot RMV Guru Sai Dutt 21-15, 16-21, 21-11 in the men’s singles second round.

Saina, playing Natcha for the first time, took some time to settle down but once the Indian got the measure of her opponent, ranked almost 93 places below her, it was a relatively easy sailing.The Thai youngster was quick on her feet and drives and that meant, the Indian ended up making a few unforced errors in trying to push the pace in the initial stages of the first game. She then began taking control of the rallies by keeping the shuttle deep and broke away after 14-14 to close the game. Saina raced to a 15-4 simply toyed with her opponent to set up a quarterfinal encounter against third seed Yihan Wang.

I was playing Natcha for the first time and had never ever seen her play before. So I needed some time to get used to her playing style,” said Saina after the match. Speaking about her next round opponent, Saina said, she was just looking to give her best. “I will have to be lot faster tomorrow,” she added. The men’s singles second round game between Gopichand Badminton Academy mates Kashyap and Guru Sai Dutt was a close affair.

However, Guru ran out of steam in the third game and Kashyap easily pocked the match to set up a possible quarterfinal clash against top seed Lee Chong Wei, who will face Sourabh Verma in the second round later in the day.

“Both Guru and I know each-others game very well and so it was never going to be an easy match. But I was confident of beating him,” Kashyap said after the match.In the day’s other matches, Olympic champion Li Xuerui and third seed Yihan Wang were stretched to three games by their respective opponents.