Saina in World Badminton quarters

[netfree]

HYDERABAD: Saina Nehwal fought her way through to the quarterfinals of the World Badminton Championships, beating Bulgarian Petya Nedelcheva in three game in the pre-quarters of the women's singles here Thursday.

Saina rallied from a game down to beat Nedelcheva 18-21, 21-18, 21-10 with the home crowd providing her throaty support at the Balayogi Indoor Stadium, Gachibowli.

India's top mixed doubles pair Jwala Gutta and Valiyaveetil Diju made it a hearty evening for the hosts by entering the quarterfinal, defeating 12th seeded Robert Mateusiak and Nadiezda Kostiuczyk of Poland 21-11, 22-20.

The eighth seeded Indian duo will next face defending champions and second seeded Indonesian pair of Nova Widianto and Liliyana Natsir. Gutta and Diju, however, have beaten them earlier when they were No.1 pair.

In men's singles' Chetan Anand bowed out after losing to sixth seeded Sony Dwi Kuncoro of Indonesia 16-21, 16-21.

For Saina it was her best performance at the World Championships and will be up against second seeded Chinese Lin Wang in the next round. The 19-year-old Indian had defeated her in the final of Indonesian Open to win the nation's maiden Super Series title this year.

"It was a tough game today. But I am happy with the fitness level. I was not feeling tired and by the third game I was at my best. I think tomorrow will be a tougher match," said Saina, who has just recovered from chicken pox.

Saina was in trouble when she lost the first game which went neck and neck. The Indian picked up pace and broke free from 13-13 and pocketed four points. She was leading at 17-13, but then lost the grip on the game. Petya raised her level and picked eight points.

The Indian was completely in command in the second game and led 12-6 and then 18-10. Her deceptive drop shots had the Bulgarian in trouble. Petya, however, pocketed eight points in a row to draw parity, but Saina managed to put it across.

In the third game, the Bulgarian was visibly upset after two close line calls went against her as Saina took a crucial 6-2 lead. That proved the turning point of the game. Saina then maintained her calm and retrieved whatever came her way in the longest rally of the match in the next point.

Saina ended with a lead of 11-3 at the change of end and beautifully controlled the game thereafter, showing her skill at the net, and smashing hard whenever the chance came.

"I was in trouble in the second game when she came back to draw level. She started playing long rallies and suddenly I was losing points. I was defending well though," Saina said.

Jwala and Diju were the first Indian to take the courts Thursday evening. The duo had got a bye in the first round and had a walkover in the second against England's Nathan Robertson and Jenny Wallwork.

"I think the fact that we got two extra days helped us a bit. We trained hard and we are confident of doing well. It feels good to become the first pair to reach the quarterfinal," said Jwala.

"We played them earlier in the Sudirman Cup four years back. We lost then but now we are a better combination. We put them under pressure. The crowd was cheering for us and that too helped us," she added.

In other matches, defending champion Lin Dan of China raced to a 21-11, 21-11 victory against Dicky Palyama of the Netherlands.

The Chinese, who is aiming a hat-trick of world titles, set-up a quarterfinal clash with veteran Danish Peter Gade.

Third-seeded Gade showed his class and form as he beat 10th-seeded Chan Yan Kit of Hong Kong 21-11, 21-12 in another pre-quarterfinal encounter.

Top seed Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia beat Tien Ming Nguyen of Vietnam 21-13, 21-17 to reach the quarters. Chong Wei will meet sixth seeded Kuncoro, who beat Anand.

Women's world No.1 Zhou Mi of Hong Kong also advanced to the quarterfinals with a 21-11, 21-18 victory over Japanese Ai Goto.

Fifth-seeded Chinese Xie Xingfang faced a tough time against Thailand's Salakjit Ponsana but prevailed 21-16, 14-21, 21-9 to reach the last-eight. Seventh-seeded Chinese Lu Lan beat Wang Chen of Hong Kong 21-18, 21-14 for a place in the last eight.