New Delhi: Saina Nehwal and P.V. Sindhu guided India through tough challenge from Thailand 3-2 to top Group C at the Siri Fort Sports Complex here Tuesday.
It was vintage Saina on display here as the Indian rode on her array of shots and better court coverage. The Hyderabadi, whose performance graph was questioned by many of her critics, answered back by beating World champion Ratchanok Intanon 22-20 21-14 in the first singles to give India a brilliant start against Thailand.
World No.8 shuttler Saina Nehwal is the only Indian to have been seeded at the USD 250,000 India Open Super Series to be held at the Siri Fort Sports Complex here from April 1-6.
Saina has been seeded eighth in the draw that was made on Tuesday. She faces an easy opener against Austrian Simone Prutsch in the first round of India's premier badminton tournament.
Continue reading Saina Nehwal seeded eighth at India Open Super Series (pic)
BUKIT JALIL: Akane Yamaguchi is only 16, but she is already being hailed as the next big star of women’s badminton.
She rose to prominence last year by becoming the youngest-ever Super Series winner when she triumphed in the Japan Open, before turning on the style to bag the world junior title.
And on Wednesday, the teenager showed exactly why she’s worth the hype with an incredible performance to stun reigning world champion Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand in the first round of the Maybank Malaysian Open.
Yamaguchi showed maturity beyond her tender years and excellent court coverage to rack up a 21-18, 23-25, 21-16 win in 63 minutes at the Putra Stadium in Bukit Jalil.
Continue reading Red hot Yamaguchi has feet firmly planted on the ground (pic)
KUALA LUMPUR: All the reigning world champions, except for China’s Lin Dan, will be making their presence felt in the Malaysian Open, which begins at the Putra Stadium in Bukit Jalil on Wednesday.
Such a high-profile line-up is set to make this year’s edition an explosive one and a sure-fire way to draw in the crowd.
Malaysia are hosting the Super Series Premier for the first time and all the current world champions have confirmed their participation. They are Thailand’s Ratchanok Intanon (women’s singles), China’s Wang Xiaoli-Yu Yang (women’s doubles) and Indonesia’s Mohd Ahsan-Hendra Setiawan (men’s doubles) and Tontowi Ahmad-Lilyana Natsir (mixed doubles).
All of them triumphed in last year’s World Championships in Guangzhou.
Continue reading No Lin Dan at Malaysian Open, no biggie (pic)
