Date:24/08/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/08/24/stories/2006082403061900.htm

Sport - Badminton

Saina in pre-quarterfinals

Seoul: Saina Nehwal scored a hard-earned victory in the second round and remained the sole survivor as all her compatriots lost their matches on a disappointing day for India in the Yonex Korea Open badminton championship here on Wednesday.

The Hyderabad teenager bounced back from one game down to chalk out a 13-21, 21-9, 21-16 victory over Yoshimi Hataya of Japan in 67 minutes in the six star event.

Saina, ranked 51st in the World, will meet Soratja Chansrisukot of Thailand in the pre-quarterfinals on Thursday. The Thai World No.37 scored an upset victory over World No.10 Kaori Mori of Japan.

However, another Indian Aditi Mutatkar was no match for World No.7 Jie Yao of the Netherlands and went down tamely 21-6, 21-15 in 29 minutes.

In the men's section, Anup Sridhar was defeated by World No.20 Dicky Palyama of the Netherlands 16-21, 21-13, 21-15 in 42 minutes, while P. Kashyap lost in straight games to Kennevic Asuncion of Philippines 21-17, 21-19. — UNI