Swiss Open: Saina Nehwal, PV Sindhu, P Kashyap enter quarter-finals
Saina Nehwal beat Sashina Vignes Waran 21-7, 21-13, while Pusarla Venkata Sindhu came from behind to beat Li Michelle 19-21, 21-16, 21-11. In men's singles, Parupalli Kashyap overcame Malaysian Beryno Jiann Tze Wong 21-23, 21-9, 21-14 to make last eight.
Top Indian shuttlers Saina Nehwal, Pusarla Venkata Sindhu Sindhu and Parupalli Kashyap had contrasting victories to progress to the quarter-finals of the $125,000 Swiss Open Grand Prix Gold at St Jakobshalle here on Thursday.
French World No.42 Sashina Vignes Waran was no match for Saina as the sixth seeded Indian came out on top 21-7, 21-13 in 34 minutes. The women's singles Olympic bronze medallist now has an undefeated 3-0 advantage in career clashes against Sashina.
A two-time winner here, the Hyderabadi next faces a challenging task in the form of top seed and former World Champion Yihan Wang of China. Though the former World No.1 has a 6-1 lead over World No.8 Saina, the Indian came out on top the last time they met.
Earlier, seventh seeded Sindhu lost a cliff-hanger first game to Canada's Li Michelle but displayed all her grit and experience to stage a come-from-behind win. The World Championship bronze medallist ousted her unseeded opponent 19-21, 21-16, 21-11 in 54 minutes to take a 2-0 lead in career meets.
Sindhu had also beaten the World No.23 Li in straight games in December 2013 to lift her second Gold Prix Gold title at the Macau Open. The 18-year-old will next take on World No.2 and third seed Shixian Wang of China.
Fresh from her victory at the All England Open Badminton Championships last week, Shixian is in top form and Sindhu will have to play her best to take out the Chinese. However, the Indian can take heart from the fact that she has an unbeaten 2-0 record over Shixian.
Meanwhile in men's singles, third seed Parupalli Kashyap overcame Malaysian Beryno Jiann Tze Wong 21-23, 21-9, 21-14 in 57 minutes and will next face Chinese Taipei's sixth seed Tien Chen Chou, who accounted for Anand Pawar in the third round earlier in the day.
Pawar crashed out after losing to Chou. Despite a dominating performance in the first game, the Indian went on to lose the next two games tamely to the sixth seed. Chou won 14-21, 21-12, 21-12 in 51 minutes to take a 3-0 career advantage over Pawar.