Saina in quarters of Swiss Open (Lead, superseding previous story)
March 18th, 2011 - 11:38 pm ICT by IANSBasel, March 18 (IANS) India’s badminton star Saina Nehwal took sweet revenge for her All England loss by beating Japanese Eriko Hirose 21-15, 17-21, 21-11 to advance to the quarterfinals of the Swiss Open Grand Prix.
Just a week back, Eriko had beaten Saina in the quarterfinals of the prestigious event in Brimingham.
The second round match here Thursday night was again a close contest between the World No. 4 Saina and No. 12 Hirose, who eventually reached the finals in England.
The Indian was trailing 5-9 in the first game but came back to close it courtesy a combination of smashes and deft drop shots at the net. Eriko came back strongly in the second set winning it after being down 3-6 at one stage.
Saina went all guns blazing in the decider and raced to a 13-5 lead from 5-5. From there on, it was Saina all the way as her opponent failed to make a comeback.
The Hyderabad-based shuttler next faces Petla Nedelcheva of Bulgaria in the last eight.
It was a mixed bag for India in the doubles event.
Rupesh Kumar and Sanave Thomas upset sixth-seed Jonas Rasmussen and Mads Conrad-Petersen 17-21, 21-15, 21-15 to enter the second round of the men’s doubles.
The women’s pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwani Ponnappa crashed out in the opening round. The pair lost to South Korean pair of Yong Dae Lee and Jung Eun Ha 16-21, 12-21.
- Saina beats Eriko to enter Swiss Open quarters - Mar 18, 2011
- China Open: Saina, Jayaram, Kashyap lose in first round - Nov 23, 2011
- Saina, Jwala-Diju in world badminton quarters - Aug 26, 2010
- India Open Super Series: Sourabh, Sai Datt keep India's hopes alive (Lead) - Apr 28, 2011
- Saina, Jwala-Diju reach quarters of Korea Open (Lead) - Jan 05, 2012
- Saina enters Indian Open prequarters - Apr 25, 2012
- Saina Nehwal in quarters of All England - Mar 11, 2011
- Indian campaign over in French Open Super Series - Oct 27, 2011
- Asian Games badminton: Jwala-Ashwini bow out in pre-quarters (Lead) - Nov 16, 2010
- China Masters: Saina, Jwala-Diju in quarters - Sep 15, 2011
- Saina out of Asian Championship, Indian campaign over - Apr 20, 2012
- Asian Games badminton: Saina, Sridhar advance, Kashyap out (Second Lead) - Nov 17, 2010
- Saina in third round of World Badminton - Aug 10, 2011
- Asian Games badminton: Saina moves into quarterfinals (Lead) - Nov 17, 2010
- Saina, Jayaram in third round of world badminton (Lead) - Aug 10, 2011
Tags: ashwani, basel, conrad, dae, decider, drop shots, eriko hirose, first game, gutta, hyderabad, jwala, mads, prestigious event, quarterfinals, rasmussen, saina nehwal, sixth seed, smashes, sweet revenge, thursday night