India Open 2017: Saina Nehwal To Play PV Sindhu In Quarters
The live action will begin at 2 pm (IST) and the contest is expected to be played late in the afternoon.
Highlights
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The match will be played late afternoon
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This will be the second international clash between Saina and Sindhu
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Sindhu is World No.5, Saina holds No.8 ranking
Few things can get better than this in badminton. Olympic medalists PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal will face one another in the quarter-finals of the India Open Super Series 2017 at the Siri Fort Complex in Delhi on Friday. This will be the second time that the Indian heavyweights will clash with each other at the international level. When they met during the final of the 2014 Syed Modi Grand Prix, it was London Olympics bronze winner Saina who prevailed in straight games. They had also met in Premier Badminton League (PBL) early this year with Sindhu having an upper hand.
"Anything can happen tomorrow in this fast court where attacking is difficult, and also playing a rally game is also tough. It is very difficult to control the shuttles," Saina had said.
.@NSaina's match winning point. Yonex Sunrise #IndiaSS#IndiaMeSmash pic.twitter.com/K5oQplytUv
— BAI Media (@BAI_Media) March 30, 2017
These players marched to the Quarterfinal round of the Yonex Sunrise #IndiaSS #IndiaMeSmash pic.twitter.com/WXuOJLkSh1
— BAI Media (@BAI_Media) March 30, 2017
"She (Sindhu) is a top 10 player and it will be very tough to control the shuttle. I will have to control my errors, I just hope I play better than today. But I have nothing to lose and it is lot easier to play without pressure. In PBL, it was the 11-point format and I was not even sure if I would be playing as I was coming out of injury," she added.
Talking about her quarterfinal clash on Friday, Sindhu said: "I know everybody would be looking forward to the match (against Saina) and hope the best player wins tomorrow."
Saina, who had struggled past Pornpawee Chochuwong in the final of the Malaysia Masters in January, brushed aside the 19-year-old Thai girl 21-14, 21-12 in a lop-sided women's singles contest on Thursday.
Rio Olympics silver medallist Sindhu then staved off the challenge of Japan's Saena Kawakami 21-16, 23-21 to set up a quarter-final clash against world No. 8 Saina on Friday.
The live action will begin at 2 pm (IST) and the champagne contest is expected to be played late in the afternoon.
(With inputs from PTI)