Odense (Denmark): Olympic bronze medallist Saina Nehwal kept Indian interests alive at the Denmark Super Series by progressing to the quarterfinals even as Sourabh Varma shocked world number eight Peter Gade before exiting the men’s singles event, here on Thursday.
Returning to action after two months, Saina scored a comfortable 21-15, 21-14 win over Japanese world number 28 Minatsu Mitani in the second round in just 20 minutes.
The 22-year-old Indian will next take on the winner of the other pre-quarterfinal match between qualifier Lok Yan Poon and fifth seed Tine Baun on Friday.
Saina took time to get into her element, but she was hardly troubled by her opponent.
The Indian was lagging behind in the first game initially but soon gathered her composure to nose ahead.
In the second game, the Indian opened up a 4-0 lead and extended it to 11-4. Mitani did well to reel off six straight points and move to 10-11, but Saina crafted her way to seal the issue.
Saina hit 27 smash winners in comparison to the 19 by her opponent. The Indian, who has beaten Mitani twice before, was also better at the net.
Meanwhile, rising Indian shuttler Sourabh Varma lost 19-21, 17-21 to Indonesia’s Sony Dwi Kuncoro in the second round after battling for 44 minutes.
He had come into this contest after upsetting world number eight and home favourite Peter Gade in straight games on Wednesday night.
The 19-year-old Indian had prevailed 21-18, 21-14 against the sixth-seeded Gade in 42-minute contest.
Sourabh, who was knocked out in the first round of the recent National Championships in Srinagar, did not get overawed by his five-time European champion opponent and matched his experience quite well on the court.
With 15 smash winners in the course of the match, Sourabh displayed quite a lot of grit against the 35-year-old crowd favourite.
Another Indian, Ajay Jayaram, challenged seventh-seeded Chinese Pengyu Du well before losing 21-19, 8-21, 9-21.
In the 59-minute match, Ajay, who was a finalist at the National Champion-ships, showed promise to start with, but eventually fizzled out against his fancied rival. (PTI)