Saina overpowers Li Han; four Indians in quarters

Bangkok: It was an extraordinary day for India at the Thailand Open GP Gold, with four of the country’s players making the quarterfinals. There was much to rejoice even in loss, for PV Sindhu gave an excellent account of herself before falling to former world champion Wang Lin of China, 21-12 25-23.

All the attention was on Saina Nehwal as she took on the upcoming Chinese youngster Li Han. The world No.5 was expected to be tested, and so she was, as Li Han established a lead early and maintained a three-point gap at 12-9. Saina slowly inched back and it was a close contest, with the Indian finally surging ahead from 17-all.

Having got used to the style of her opponent, the Indian made short work of her in the second game, repeatedly scoring through her smashes. From 7-all, Li Han had no answer to the Indian’s power and aggression.

Saina’s compatriot PV Sindhu had five game points against former world champion Wang Lin, now on the comeback trail after injury. Wang was dominant in the first game, but the second was a tight and feisty battle all through. Sindhu had two game points at 20-18 and then three more, but Wang clung on, and eventually took the thriller 25-23.

Meanwhile, the men had reason to rejoice. National champion Sourabh Verma overcame the defensive Yunus Alamsyah of Indonesia; Sai Praneeth beat veteran Wong Choon Hann, and Sameer Verma matched his elder brother Sourabh by dispatching Tech Zhi Soo of Malaysia in straight games.

The four Indian doubles pairs however failed to progress past the first round. Aparna Balan/ Sikki Reddy, Pradnya Gadre/ Prajakta Sawant, Arun Vishnu/ Aparna Balan and Tarun Kona/ Arun Vishnu were all shown the door in the first round.