Malaysia Masters: Saina, Sindhu enter quarterfinals

TIL Desk Sports/ Saina Nehwal and reigning world champion P V Sindhu produced dominating performances to progress to the women’s singles quarterfinals of the Malaysia Masters Super 500 badminton tournament in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday.

Sixth seed Sindhu notched up a commanding 21-10, 21-15 victory over Japan’s Aya Ohori in a pre-quarterfinal match lasting just 34 minutes. It was Sindhu’s ninth successive win over Ohori. The 24-year-old Indian, who won the World Championships in Basel last year, will take on either world number 1 Chinese Taipei’s Tai Tzu Ying or seventh seed South Korean Sung Ji Hyun in the quarterfinals.

Saina, who had won the Indonesia Masters last year before going through a rough patch, dispatched Young 25-23, 21-12 after a thrilling 39-minute contest. This is Saina’s first win over the South Korean, who got the better of the Indian in the quarter-finals of the French Open last year. The two-time Commonwealth Games champion will next take on Olympic champion Carolina Marin in the quarter-finals.