Saina Joins Sindhu And Prannoy In quarterfinals Of Singapore Open
By Bibhu Ray
(The Quiver) : Olympic bronze medalist Saina Nehwal showed signs of regaining her form on her way to a sensational win over Chinese world number 9 He Bing Jiao in the Singapore Open on Thursday.
The two-time Commonwealth Games gold Medalist joined compatriots PV Sindhu and HS Prannoy in the quarterfinals of the tournament. Saina prevailed 21-19,11-21,21-17 over the fifth seeded Chinese to make the last eight, her first in the super 500 event in over two and half years.
The 32-year old from Hyderabad has been battling with injuries and lack of form in the past few years, which forced her to skip the selection trails for the Commonwealth Games in April.
In the last three years, Saina’s best performance had been a semi-final finish in the Orleans Master Super 100 last year. She had also reached the quarter-final stage at the Malaysia Open and Barcelona Spain Masters 2020.Two-time Olympic medalist Sindhu and in-form Prannoy also stormed into the quarterfinals after registering fighting wins.
Third seed Sindhu staved off a spirited challenge from Vietnam’s world number 59 Thuy Linh Nguyen 19-21,21-19,21-18 in the women’s singles competition to set clash with China’s Han Yue.
Prannoy, ranked world number 19, notched up second win in three weeks over world no. 4 and third seed Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei 14-21,22-20,21-18 in a hour and nine minute contest.The 29 year-old Indian, who is looking to break his five-year-old title drought, will face Japan’s Kodai Naraoka next.
