BWF World Championship: Saina, Sindhu advance to third round

London Olympic bronze medallist Saina Nehwal warmed up for the bigger challenges in the 2013 BWF World Badminton Championship in style with a 21-5, 21-4 hammering of Russia’s Olga Golovanova in the second round in Gungzhou, China, on Wednesday.

The world number 3 was never expected to face any stiff challenge from the Russian, but the Bharat Petroleum employee allied any fears of rustiness and injuries as she was in cruise control throughout the 23 minute encounter.

She will now take on 15^th seed Porntip Buranaprasertsuk of Thailand for a place in the quarterfinals.

Also advancing to the third round was Asian junior champion P V Sindhu, who had to battle past Japan’s Kaori Imabeppu 21-19, 19-21, 21-17 in one hour 11 minutes.

Sindhu, playing her first ever world championship, adopted an aggressive approach and that ultimately paid off against an opponent known for her long rallies.

The lanky Hyderabadi scored most of her points through a combination of half smashes and down the line winners and is likely to meet defending champion and second seed Yihan Wang of China in the next round.

While the girls advance, Ajay Jayaram’s challenge in men’s singles came to an end when he went down 21-9, 21-17 against Spain’s Pablo Abian.

India’s challenge in doubles also ended with the loss of Arun Vishnu and K Tarun in second round of men’s doubles.
Later in the day, P Kashyap sailed into the third round when Petr Koukal of Czech Republic conceded the match due to a knee injury with the Indian leading 14-5.

Results (second round):

Women’s singles: 3-Saina Nehwal bt Olga Golovanova (Russia) 21-5, 21-4; 10-P V Sindhu bt Kaori Imabeppu (Japan) 21-19, 19-21, 21-17

Men’s singles: Ajay Jayaram lost to Pablo Abian (Spain) 21-9, 21-17

Men’s doubles: Arun Vishnu/K Tarun lost to 15-Alvent Yulianto Chandra/Markis Kido (Indonesia) 21-15, 13-21, 21-17