BWF World Championship: Saina Nehwal enters 3rd round

Nanjing (China): Former world no 1 Saina Nehwal progressed into the third round of the Badminton World Championship in women’s singles while star shuttler Kidambi Srikanth entered the second round in men’s singles here on Tuesday.

10th seed Saina defeated Turkey’s unseeded Aliye Demirbag in straight sets 21-17, 21-18 to enter the third round of the BWF World Championship finishing the game in 39 minutes.

In the first game both the shuttlers tried to outplay each other, but it was Saina who dominated the match, only on one occasion Demirbag looked stronger, but she failed to capitalise on her slender advantage and Saina won the game 21-17.

In the second game Saina continued her winning momentum and kept her nerves cool and took the second game from her opponent.

The Indian shuttler next faces Thailand’s Ratchanok Intanon in the third round.

In the men’s singles world no 6 Kidambi Srikanth won in staight sets against unseeded Irish Nhat Nguyen 21-15, 21-16 taking a time of 37 minutes to enter the second round of the BWF Championship.

In the first game the Irish showed some grit and took a slender lead, but it was Srikanth who took the game. In the second game there was a close fight, but Srikanth continued to lead and emerged victorious.

The world no 6 will face Pablo Abian from Spain in round 3 encounter on Wednesday.

In the men’s doubles, the pair of Arjun M R and Ramachandran Shlok suffered defeat in straight games against Malaysian One Yew Sin and Teo Ee Yi 14-21, 15-21 in 29 minutes.

Indian mixed-doubles pair also disappointed Rohan Kapoor and Kuhoo Garg go down to sixth-seed Chris Adcock and Gabrielle Adcock from England 12-21, 12-21 in straight games. (UNI)