Kuala Lumpur, June 28 (IANS): India’s P.V. Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth progressed to the quarter-finals but Saina Nehwal fell in the second round of the Malaysia Open badminton championships here on Thursday.
Third seed Sindhu defeated Malaysian Ying Ying Lee 21-8, 21-14 in 32 minutes to set-up a quarter-final against 2016 Olympic champion Carolina Marin, who got past Cheung Ngan Yi 24-22, 21-11.
However, Sindhu’s senior compatriot Saina lost to Japanese second seed Akane Yamaguchi 15-21, 13-21 in 36 minutes.
Yamaguchi has now taken a 6-1 lead in head-to-head records against the two-time World Championships medallist Saina, who on Thursday suffered the sixth straight loss against the Japanese.
In the first game, Yamaguchi had taken a 9-2 lead but Saina closed down the deficit to one as the Indian reached the 10-point mark. However, Yamaguchi outplayed the Indian to take a 21-15 win.
She continued to dominate Saina in the second game, taking an 11-3 lead in the mid-game interval.
Though Saina improved her game, Yamaguchi ran away with a 21-13 easy triumph.
Chinese Taipei top seed Tai Tzu Ying and Thai eighth seed Ratchanok Intanon also made it to the last eight stage.
In the men’s singles, Kidambi Srikanth beat Chinese Taipei’s Wang Tzu Wei 22-20, 21-12 in 32 minutes.
On Friday, Srikanth will meet Frenchman Brice Leverdez, who defeated Indonesian Jonatan Christie 10-21, 21-17, 25-23.
Chinese third seed Shi Yuqi defeated veteran compatriot Lin Dan 21-19, 21-12.
Home favourite Lee Chong Wei will face Danish top seed Viktor Axelsen on Friday for a place in the semi-finals.
