BWF World Championships 2022: Saina Nehwal Through to Pre-quarters; Treesa Jolly- Gayatri Gopichand Pair Makes Winning Start

Indian badminton ace Saina Nehwal got the better of Hong Kong shuttler Chuang Ngan Yi 21-19, 21-9 to advance to the subsequent round of the ongoing Badminton World Championships in Tokyo.

The 32-year-old shuttler was scheduled to take on old nemesis Nozomi Okuhara of Japan in the subsequent round. But, the Indian was handed a bye to the next round of the tournament as the sixth-seeded home hope pulled out of the contest with an injury.

Saina managed to outplay her opponent from Hong Kong in straight sets as she overcame a slow start to the first game in which she trailed by a difference of 3 points at one point. But the veteran Indian shuttler managed to hold her serve to take the first game in thrilling fashion as she took the opener with a score of 21-19.

The second set was far easier for the star from Hisar as she romped to a comfortable 21-9 victory to close out the tie and seal her progress to the following rounds in Tokyo.

There was more good news for the Indian contingent from Japan as the women’s doubles pairing of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand registered an opening win over the Malaysian duo of Low Yeen Yuan and Valeree Siow 21-11, 21-13.

The Indian duo settled in quickly as they demonstrated that they were the better team right from the get-go.

After an initial exchange of points, the Jolly and Gayatri ran away with the lead in the first game to record an early advantage over their Asian opponents.

The Malaysian women tried to put the first game submission behind them and focus on the second game as they got a stronger hold of the game, but, Jolly and Gayatri broke their resistance to take the lead at 8-7. From there on out there was no stopping the Indian women as they finished off the game and subsequently the match in a hurry.

The pair is set to take on face another Malaysia pairing of Pearly Tan and Thinaah Muralitharan in their round of 32 encounter in Japan as they seek to progress to the subsequent rounds with an eye on the grand prize in the women’s doubles category.

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