World no-2 Saina Nehwal cruised into the quarterfinals of $8, 00,000 Indonesian Open Superseries to set up a clash with World no-6 Wang Shixian of China. Three time Champion here had no problem to defeat World no-26 Hsu Ya Ching of Chinese Taipei, she eased pass her opponent 21-13, 21-15 in 37 minute to reserve her place in the quarterfinals. World no-12 Parupalli Kashyap stunned World no-5 Son Won Hu of Korea by beating him in straight sets with the score line of 21-11, 21-14 to avenge his loss of Sudhirman Cup which he received form the hands of former. In the biggest upset of the day World no-4 Kidambi Srikanth lost out to World no-166 Githing Anthony of Indonesia. Indonesian player overcame 4 seeded Indian 14-21, 22-20, 21-13 in a 3 sets battle.
Saina Nehwal has won Indonesian Open Superseries thrice before in the years 2009, 2010 and 2012. Last year she lost to then World no-1 & her arch rival Li Xuerui of China in the quarterfinals. Saina is one of the favorites to win the tournament. After losing to Wang Shixian in the Australian Open quarterfinals last week, Saina Nehwal will get a chance to take revenge as she meets the Chinese again in this quarterfinal. Both the players have 6 wins each against each other in the 12 matches they’ve played. Wang Shixian will be determined to repeat her Australian Open performance but it’s not going to be easy against a 3 time Champion.
Parupalli Kashyap is up against World no-1 & recently crowned Australian Open Champion Chen Long of China. Top seeded Chinese is certainly one of the favorites to win the match & tournament especially after winning the Australian Open Superseries title. Chinese player has beaten Parupalli Kashyap in their last 3 meetings. They last met in Malaysian Open Superseries where Chinese won in straight sets.
Doubles players also disappoint as the World no-18 pair of Jwala Gutta & Ashwini Ponnappa ousted by 7 seeded Chinese pair of Yu Yang/ Zhang Qiaxin in a 29 minutes with a score line of 21-8, 21-18. Duo of Akshay Dawalakar/ Pranaav Jerry Chopra also bows out of the tournament losing 13-21, 11-21 to 5 seeded Chinese duo of Chai Biao/Hong Wei.
