Orleans Masters: Saina Nehwal enters quarter-finals
India's ace shuttler Saina Nehwal on Thursday progressed to the quarter-finals of the ongoing Orleans Masters. Saina, who is ranked 20 at the BWF World Rankings, triumphed over France's Marie Batomene 18-21, 21-15, 21-10 in the second-round match which lasted for about 51 minutes. India's Ira Sharma also progressed to the quarter-finals after she defeated Bulgaria's Mariya Mitsova 21-18, 21-13 Here's more.
Saina is aiming to make it to her fourth Olympics and will want to do well in the ongoing Super 100 event. This is part of BWF's revised Olympic qualification period. Saina, who had pulled out of last week's All England Championships, will face either France's Yaelle Hoyaux or Malaysia's Iris Wang next.
Indian mixed doubles pair of Pranaav Jerry Chopra and N Sikki Reddy also made a winning start. They defeated Austria's Dominik Stipsits and Serena Au Yeong 21-7, 21-18. In women's doubles, Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy cruised into the next round after registering a 21-9, 17-21, 21-19 win over Amalie Magelund and Freja Ravn.
Saina made a winning start to completely dominate Ireland's Rachael Darragh to secure a commanding 21-9, 21-5 win.
Parupalli Kashyap bowed out of the tournament after losing to France's Toma Junior Popov 7-21, 17-21. Also, Kiran George defeated HS Prannoy 13-21, 21-16, 23-21.
