Asian Games badminton: Indian hopes rest on Sindhu, Saina
Sindhu and Saina, who entered the women’s singles quarterfinals, are the only two Indians left in the field.
Sindhu and Saina, who entered the women’s singles quarterfinals, are the only two Indians left in the field.
Sindhu and Saina, who entered the women’s singles quarterfinals, are the only two Indians left in the field.
Jakarta: After all the hype surrounding the Indian badminton contingent, it's up to P V Sindhu and Saina Nehwal to ensure that they don't return home empty-handed from the Asian Games.
Sindhu and Saina, who entered the women’s singles quarterfinals, are the only two Indians left in the field as the campaign of the rest came to an end on Saturday. Another win will ensure both Sindhu and Saina a medal.
World No. 10 Saina beat Indonesia’s Fitriani 21-6, 21-14 in the pre-quarterfinals of the women's singles.
Saina clinched the opening game easily. However, with the home crowd egging her on world No.40 Fitriani gave a good fight in the second game. She took a 5-1 lead, but Saina slowly took control of the game and led 11-9.
From then on Saina dominated and closed out the tie 21-14.
Rio Olympic silver medallist Sindhu got the better of Indonesia's Gregoria Mariska 21-12, 21-15.
World No. 3 Sindhu raced away to a 7-0 lead in the opening game. Though Mariska fought hard, the Indian was always in control and wrapped up the tie.
Doubles pairs exit
Sumeeth Reddy and Manu Attri let slip a golden chance to score a famous win as they lost to the world No. 2 pair of Li Junhui and Liu Yuchen 13-21, 21-17, 23-25 in an epic men's doubles pre-quarterfinals.
Chirag Shetty and Satwik Sairaj Rankireddy went down fighting to South Korea’s Choi Sol-guy and Kang Min Huyk 17-21, 21-19, 17-21 in another pre-quarterfinals.
The South Korean duo led from the start and though Shetty and Rankireddy fought hard it was not enough to stop them from winning the opening game.
The Indians led a spirited fightback in the second and led 12-10. They came back from 16-18 to win the game 21-19 and forced a decider. But, the South Koreans had the last laugh as they won the final game 21-17.
It was also the end of the road for Ashwini Ponnappa and Sikki Reddy as they lost to Chinese world No. 3 pair of Jia Yifan and Chen Qingchen 11-21, 22-24 in the quarterfinals.