Hong Kong Open: Saina Nehwal, PV Sindhu enter quarter-finals

Hong Kong, Nov 24: India's ace shuttler Saina Nehwal continued her good run in the Hong Kong Open Super Series as she advanced to the quarter-finals today (November 24). Also PV Sindhu entered the last-8 stage, defeating Taiwan's Hsu Ya Ching 21-10, 21-14.

Saina back to winning ways

Playing in her second tournament since returning from a knee surgery, Saina defeated Japan's Sayako Sato 21-18, 9-21, 21-16 in the second round on Thursday to make the last-eight stage.

In her first tournament after surgery, Saina had exited from the China Open in the first round itself, losing to Thailand's Porntip Buranaprasertsuk.

Yesterday, Saina had defeated the same opponent - Porntip in the 1st round, bouncing back from a first-game loss to seal the contest with a scoreline of 12-21, 21-19, 21-17.

Saina and Sindhu are on collision course if the Indian duo make it to the semi-final phase. Both are one win away from meeting.

Meanwhile, India's H.S. Prannoy crashed out of the men's singles competition after going down fighting to Chong Wei Feng of Malaysia.

Prannoy started off on a promising note at the Hong Kong Coliseum before going down 21-15, 11-21, 15-21 over 58 minutes in the second round encounter.

Sameer Verma, another Indian in the fray in men's singles event, enjoyed a better day in office with a 19-21, 21-15, 21-11 victory over Kazumasa Sakai of Japan in 53 minutes.

OneIndia News/IANS