New Delhi: Saina Nehwal and B. Sai Praneeth made short work of their opponents in women’s and men’s singles, respectively, to reach the quarter-finals of the $120000 Thailand Grand Prix Gold, in Bangkok on Thursday.
Second seed Nehwal dished out a dominating show to dump Ying Ying Lee of Malaysia 21-11 21-14 in a 40-minute match to set up a clash with Japanese qualifier Haruko Suzuki.
Singapore Open champion, Praneeth didn’t break much sweat in getting past ninth seed Malaysia’s Iskandar Zulkarnain 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 Verma fought hard before going down narrowly 16-21, 25-23, 11-21 to fifth seeded Brice Leverdez of France, Sai Uttejitha Rao lost 15-21, 17-21 to Pattarasuda Chaiwan of Thailand.
Praneeth, who had beaten Zulkarnain during their only meeting earlier, opened up a 5-1 lead and then marched on despite a tough fight from the Malaysian. Eventually, he sealed the first game comfortably.
In the second game, Zulkarnain took a 9-7 lead but Praneeth erased the deficit and closed the door on his opponent in the 41-minute clash.
In another development, Badminton Association of India president Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma has been nominated as the chairperson of the Asian Para-Badminton Committee.
