Table Tennis News

At The ITTF Rankings - January 2019,

The Men's Rankings
#28 Sathiyan Gnanasekaran (IND)
#33 Sharath Kamal Achanta (IND)

The Women's Rankings
#47 Manika Batra (IND)

In newly updated the ITTF rankings, G Sathiyan made history by becoming the highest-ranked Indian table tennis player and Manika Batra also became the first Indian woman to break into the top-50 in the rankings ... Sathiyan jumped three spots to #28 and Manika rose 5 places to #47.

Tennis News

At the World Group Qualifier 2019, Kolkata, India

India vs Italy

Day One
[R1] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,133) vs Andreas Seppi (ITA,37)
[R2] Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,102) vs Matteo Berrettini (ITA,53)

Day Two
[R3] Divij Sharan (IND)/ Rohan Bopanna (IND) vs Marco Cecchinato (ITA)/ Simone Bolelli (ITA)
[R4] Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,102) vs Andreas Seppi (ITA,37)
[R5] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,133) vs Matteo Berrettini (ITA,53)

Ram is playing the first match against Andreas Seppi ... The Italian captain surprised naming a debutant Matteo Berrettini for the singles, he will face Prajnesh in the second rubber.

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At $81K+H Cleveland Challenger 2019, Ohio, United States

[R1] (4) N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Hans Hach Verdugo (MEX) bt Gonzalo Escobar (ECU)/Roberto Maytin (VEN) 75 61

Bala with his new Mexican partner, Hans Hach Verdugo, started with straight sets win over the South American pair.

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At $25K ITF Women's Tournament 2019, Jodhpur, India

[R1] (WC) Sowjanya BAVISETTI (IND,743) l Paige HOURIGAN (NZL,544) 57 36
[R1] (Q) Vaidehi CHAUDHARI (IND,UNR) l (Q) Mihaela DJAKOVIC (SRB,766) 36 36
[R1] (WC) Mahak JAIN (IND,518) l Fatma AL NABHANI (OMA,439) 46 46
[R1] (WC) Riya BHATIA (IND,555) bt (WC) Zeel DESAI (IND,770) 62 75
[R1] (Q) Sai Samhitha CHAMARTHI (IND,796) l (3) Valeriya STRAKHOVA (UKR,287) 46 16

[R2] (WC) Riya BHATIA (IND,555) vs (6) Miyabi INOUE (JPN,362)

A poor outing for Indian women ... Only Riya managed to win against Zeel but our all other players lost against the foreign players ... Riya is facing the 6th seed Inoue.

Golf News

At $3.25M Omega Dubai Desert Classic 2019, Dubai, United Arab Emirate (European Tour)

T29 Shubhankar Sharma (IND) 71 69 70 68 -10 € 23,058
T38 Gaganjeet Bhullar (IND) 71 70 69 69 -9 € 17,436

Shubhankar and Gaganjeet had a decent finish with consistent under-par rounds ... Shubhankar managed to finish inside the top-30 with the 10-under final score.

Tennis News

At $250K Toyota Thailand Open 2019, Hua Hin

[Q2] (11) Ankita Raina (IND,203) l (5) Conny Perin (SUI,150) 67(1) 36

Ankita failed to repeat their last meeting's result a week back ... This time, Perin won in straight sets.

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At $81K+H Cleveland Challenger 2019, Ohio, United States

[R1] (4) N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Hans Hach Verdugo (MEX) vs Gonzalo Escobar (ECU)/Roberto Maytin (VEN)

This week, Bala is playing with the Mexican partner, Hans Hach Verdugo ... They r the 4th seeds and facing a South American pair in the first round.

Badminton News

At $350K DAIHATSU Indonesia Masters 2019, Jakarta (HSBC BWF World Tour Super 500)

P.C. to Saina's FB page

Women's Singles Final
(8) Saina Nehwal (IND,9) bt (5) Carolina Marin (ESP,4) 4-10 retd.

Saina won her first BWF Super 500 tournament title and this was the first BWF title in two years for Saina, the last was in Malaysia in 2017 ... In the final, Saina got lucky against the in-form Carolina Marin ... Carolina twisted her ankle returning Saina's shot when she was leading 9-3 ... After 2 points she retired due to unbearable pain and was in tears ... I am sure, Saina also didn't want to win the title this way ... Hoping for no serious injury to Marin.

Squash News

At $180K Women's JP Morgan Tournament of Champions 2019, New York, USA (PSA World Tour Platinum)

[R1] (14) Joshna Chinappa (IND,14) bye
[R2] (14) Joshna Chinappa (IND,14) bt Tinne Gilis (BEL,44) 11-8, 11-8, 13-11 (37m)

[R3] (14) Joshna Chinappa (IND,14) l (1) Raneem El Welily (EGY,1) 11-6, 4-11, 8-11, 8-11 (39m)

Joshna won the first game against the WR #1 El Welily ... Also gave a decent fight in the 3rd and the 4th games in her loss.

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At $180K Men's JP Morgan Tournament of Champions 2019, New York, USA (PSA World Tour Platinum)

[R1] (9/16) Saurav Ghosal (IND,12) bye
[R2] (9/16) Saurav Ghosal (IND,12) bt Campbell Grayson (NZL,42) 11-7, 11-5, 11-8 (48m)

[R3] (9/16) Saurav Ghosal (IND,12) l (7) Paul Coll (NZL,7) 12-14 (37m) retd.

Saurav retired after the first game in the third round against Paul Coll ... Hoping for not a serious injury scare for Saurav.

Tennis News

At $250K Toyota Thailand Open 2019, Hua Hin

[Q1] (12) Karman Kaur Thandi (IND,205) l Chloe Paquet (FRA,212) 36 57
[Q1] (11) Ankita Raina (IND,203) bt Kwan Yau Ng (HKG,772) 60 60

[Q2] (11) Ankita Raina (IND,203) vs (5) Conny Perin (SUI,150)

A dominating start for Ankita and she is facing Perin in the second qualifying ... But a bad loss for Karman against a similar ranked French girl.

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At $69K+H Rennes Challenger 2019, France

[SF] (4) Fabricio Neis (BRA)/ Purav Raja (IND) l David Pel (CRO)/ Antonio Sancic (CRO) 36 46

Purav and Neis lost in straight sets against the Croatian pair.

Badminton News

At $350K DAIHATSU Indonesia Masters 2019, Jakarta (HSBC BWF World Tour Super 500)

[SF] (8) Saina Nehwal (IND,9) bt (6) Bingjiao He (CHN,7) 18-21 21-12 21-18

[F] (8) Saina Nehwal (IND,9) vs (5) Carolina Marin (ESP,4)

Saina scored an excellent comeback win over higher ranked Bingjiao He ... After losing the first game after leading most of the time, Saina made a strong reply and won the second comfortably ... In the third game, Saina took an early 10-6 lead but He won next 6 points to lead 10-12 ... Saina caught her at 16-all and opened 19-16 lead ... She converted the f1st match point for entering into the Super 500 tournament after a long time ... In the final, she is having a tough challenge of Carolina Marin.

Tennis News

At $25K ITF Germany-01 2019, Nussloch

[SF] (1) Liam Broady (GBR)/ Arjun Kadhe (IND) l (4) Marek Gengel (CZE)/ Danylo Kalenichenko (UKR) 76(5) 36 6-10

Arjun and Liam lost in the semis against the 4th seed pair ... They won the first set tie-break after that Gengel and Kalenichenkp played better tennis.

Badminton News

At $350K DAIHATSU Indonesia Masters 2019, Jakarta (HSBC BWF World Tour Super 500)

[QF] (8) Kidambi Srikanth (IND,8) l Jonatan Christie (INA,12) 18-21 19-21

[QF] (8) Saina Nehwal (IND,9) bt Pornpawee Chochuwong (THA,22) 21-7 21-18
[QF] (2) Pusarla V. Sindhu (IND,3) l (5) Carolina Marin (ESP,4) 11-21 12-21

[SF] (8) Saina Nehwal (IND,9) vs (6) Bingjiao He (CHN,7)

Saina is in the semis with straight sets win over the Thai girl ... Saina is facing the Chinese girl, Bingjiao He, the first time.
Sindhu failed to challenge Carolina Marin in one-sided loss.
Srikanth tried but Jonatan Christie played better in winning important points.

Tennis News

At $162K+H Newport Beach Challenger 2019, United States

[QF] N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Jason Jung (TPE) l (3) Romain Arneodo (MON)/ Andrei Vasilevski (BLR) 67(4) 36

Bala and Jason lost in straight sets against the 3rd seed pair.

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At $25K ITF Women's Tournament 2019, Singapore

[R2] Ankita Raina (IND,204) l Na-Lae Han (KOR,219) 16 67(5)

This was Ankita's 7th match in 10 days, so maybe she was tired to pull it off and lost in straight sets.

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At $69K+H Rennes Challenger 2019, France

[QF] (4) Fabricio Neis (BRA)/ Purav Raja (IND) bt (ITF) Gregoire Jacq (FRA)/ Hugo Voljacques (FRA) 62 62

[SF] (4) Fabricio Neis (BRA)/ Purav Raja (IND) vs David Pel (CRO)/ Antonio Sancic (CRO)

A comfortable win for Purav and Neis against the local ITF pair ... In the semis, they r meeting the Croatian pair.

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At $54K Burnie Challenger 2019, Australia

[QF] (2) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Sem Verbeek (NED) l Mirza Basic (BIH)/ Tomislav Brkic (BIH) 46 76(4) 6-10

Jeevan and his Dutch partner Sem Verbeek lost in the match tie-break against Basic and Brkic.

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At $25K ITF Germany-01 2019, Nussloch

[QF] (1) Liam Broady (GBR)/ Arjun Kadhe (IND) bt Alexander Erler (AUT)/ Lenny Hampel (AUT) 76(2) 64

[QF] (1) Liam Broady (GBR)/ Arjun Kadhe (IND) vs (4) Marek Gengel (CZE)/ Danylo Kalenichenko (UKR)

Arjun and Liam r in the semis with a tight straight sets win over the Austrian pair ... Next, they r facing the 4th seed pair.

Badminton News

At $350K DAIHATSU Indonesia Masters 2019, Jakarta (HSBC BWF World Tour Super 500)

[R2] (8) Kidambi Srikanth (IND,8) bt Kenta Nishimoto (JPN,10) 21-14 21-9

[R2] (8) Saina Nehwal (IND,9) bt Fitriani Fitriani (INA,31) 21-17 21-15
[R2] (2) Pusarla V. Sindhu (IND,3) bt Gregoria Mariska Tunjung (INA,14) 23-21 21-7

[R2] Manu Attri (IND)/ B. Sumeeth Reddy (IND) l (5) Kim Astrup (DEN)/ Anders Skaarup Rasmussen (DEN) 14-21 21-17 10-21

[QF] (8) Kidambi Srikanth (IND,8) vs Jonatan Christie (INA,12)

[QF] (8) Saina Nehwal (IND,9) vs Pornpawee Chochuwong (THA,22)
[QF] (2) Pusarla V. Sindhu (IND,3) vs (5) Carolina Marin (ESP,4)

Tunjung stretched Sindhu in the first game, which Sindhu won after saving a game point ... In the second game, Tunjung failed to challenge Sindhi ... In the quarters, Sindhu facing a tricky opponent in Carolina Marin.
Saina continues with keeping her upper hand over Fitriani Fitriani ... Saina won her second round in straight games ... Next, she is facing
Srikanth scored a dominating win against the top-10 Japanese, Kenta Nishimoto ... In the quarters, he is facing a local favorite Jonatan Christie, who scored an upset win over the WR #2 Yuqi Shi.

Manu and Sumeeth gave a fighting performance against the top-10 Danish pair as they lost in three games.

Tennis News

At the World Group Qualifier 2019, Kolkata, India

Italian Team: Marco Cecchinato (S #18), Andreas Seppi (S #35, D #224), Matteo Berrettini (S #54, D #131), Thomas Fabbiano (S #102, D #334 , Simone Bolelli (S #134, D #88)

The Italian #1 Fabio Fognini is skipping the Davis cup tie but still a strong Italian team ... I think Andreas Seppi will be a key player for them with his experience in the singles.

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At $162K+H Newport Beach Challenger 2019, United States

[R1] N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Jason Jung (TPE) bt (WC) Thai-Son Kwiatkowski (USA)/ Noah Rubin (USA) 63 62

[QF] N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Jason Jung (TPE) vs (3) Romain Arneodo (MON)/ Andrei Vasilevski (BLR)

Bala and Jason started with a comfortable win over the wild-card pair ... Next, they r facing the 3rd seed pair.

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At $69K+H Rennes Challenger 2019, France

[R1] (4) Fabricio Neis (BRA)/ Purav Raja (IND) bt (ITF) Javier Barranco Cosano (ESP)/ Raul Brancaccio (ESP) 64 75

[QF] (4) Fabricio Neis (BRA)/ Purav Raja (IND) vs (ITF) Gregoire Jacq (FRA)/ Hugo Voljacques (FRA)

Purav and Neis started with straight sets win over the Spanish pair ... In the quarters, they r facing a local ITF pair.

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At $25K ITF Germany-01 2019, Nussloch

[R1] (6) Arjun Kadhe (IND,390) l (LL) Kai Wehnelt (GER,UNR) 67(3) 67(6)

Doubles
[R1] (1) Liam Broady (GBR)/ Arjun Kadhe (IND) bt Niklas Albuszies (GER)/ Robin Lang (GER) 61 63

A bad loss for Arjun as he lost in the two tie-breaks against the lucky loser local player ... But an expected winning start in the doubles with Broady.

Badminton News

At $350K DAIHATSU Indonesia Masters 2019, Jakarta (HSBC BWF World Tour Super 500)

[Q1] Subhankar Dey (IND,49) bt Gatjra Piliang Fiqihila Cupu (INA,160) 21-18 21-18
[Q2] Subhankar Dey (IND,49) bt Daniel Fan (AUS,180) 21-11 21-15

[R1] Parupalli Kashyap (IND,42) l (7) Anthony Sinisuka Ginting (INA,7) 12-21 16-21
[R1] Sai Praneeth B. (IND,22) l (4) Long Chen (CHN,5) 12-21 14-21
[R1] Subhankar Dey (IND,49) l (6) Viktor Axelsen (DEN,6) 14-21 21-19 15-21
[R1] (8) Kidambi Srikanth (IND,8) bt Wei Feng Chong (MAS,44) 21-12 21-8

[R1] (8) Saina Nehwal (IND,9) bt Dinar Dyah Ayustine (INA,50) 7-21 21-16 21-11
[R1] (2) Pusarla V. Sindhu (IND,3) bt Xuerui Li (CHN,26) 22-24 21-8 21-17

[R1] Manu Attri (IND)/ B. Sumeeth Reddy (IND) bt Mads Pieler Kolding (DEN)/ Niclas Nohr (DEN) 14-21 21-19 21-15

[R1] Ashwini Ponnappa (IND)/ N. Sikki Reddy (IND) l (8) Jongkolphan Kititharakul (THA)/ Rawinda Prajongjai (THA) 14-21 14-21

[R1] Pranaav Jerry Chopra (IND)/ N. Sikki Reddy (IND) l (4) Tontowi Ahmad (INA)/ Liliyana Natsir (INA) 15-21 15-21

[R2] (8) Kidambi Srikanth (IND,8) vs Kenta Nishimoto (JPN,10)

[R2] (8) Saina Nehwal (IND,9) vs Fitriani Fitriani (INA,31)
[R2] (2) Pusarla V. Sindhu (IND,3) vs Gregoria Mariska Tunjung (INA,14)

[R2] Manu Attri (IND)/ B. Sumeeth Reddy (IND) vs (5) Kim Astrup (DEN)/ Anders Skaarup Rasmussen (DEN)

Sindhu scored a hard-fought win against the former WR #1 Xuerui Li ... In the first game, Sindhu missed a game point at 21-10 and Li converted the 3rd game point ... Sindhu dominated the second game and won it comfortably ... In the third game, Sindhu was behind 6-9 and then 10-13 but she caught with Li at 13-all ... And from 17-all she won next 4 points for an excellent win ... In the second round, she is facing the Indonesian Gregoria Mariska Tunjung.
Saina had a slow start against the Indonesian Ayustine ... Ayustine won the first game in no time but after that Saina dug deep and fought back ... She won the second game and kept momentum in the third to win it comfortably ... Another Indonesian girl is waiting for Saina in the next round, Fitriani Fitriani.
Srikanth scored a comfortable win over his Malaysian opponent, Wei Feng Chong ... Next, he is facing the top-10 Japanese, Kenta Nishimoto.

As expected tough matches for our men ... For Sai, he was no match to Long Chen in his comeback match ... After qualifying Shubankar tried and won the second game but Axelsen won the third game for a win ... Kashyap also failed to challenge the WR #7 Ginting.

In the doubles, only Manu and Sumeeth managed to win their first round match against the Danish pair ... Next, they r facing the seeded Danish pair ... Sikki-Ashwini and Sikki-Pranaav lost their respective matches.

Tennis News

At Australian Open 2019, Melbourne, Australia

[R2] Samantha Stosur (AUS)/ Leander Paes (IND) l (5) Anna-Lena Groenefeld (GER)/ Robert Farah (COL) 64 46 8-10

This AO turned out to be disappointing for Indians ... Lee with Stosur lost in the MXD second round against the 5th seeds after winning the first set.

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At $25K ITF Women's Tournament 2019, Singapore

[R1] Ankita Raina (IND,204) bt Cagla Buyukakcay (TUR,273) 63 62

Ankita started with dominating win against the former #60 ranked Cagla Buyukakcay.

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At $162K+H Newport Beach Challenger 2019, United States

[R1] N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Jason Jung (TPE) vs (WC) Thai-Son Kwiatkowski (USA)/ Noah Rubin (USA)

Bala is partnering Jason Jung and they r facing the American wild-card pair.

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At $69K+H Rennes Challenger 2019, France

[R1] (4) Fabricio Neis (BRA)/ Purav Raja (IND)/ vs (ITF) Javier Barranco Cosano (ESP)/ Raul Brancaccio (ESP)

This week, Purav and Neis r playing in the French challenger ... In the first round, they r facing the ITF pair.

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At $54K Burnie Challenger 2019, Australia

[R1] (2) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Sem Verbeek (NED) bt Hiroki Moriya (JPN)/ Mohamed Safwat (EGY) 36 62 11-9

[QF] (2) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Sem Verbeek (NED) vs Mirza Basic (BIH)/ Tomislav Brkic (BIH)

Jeevan is the 2nd seed with his Dutch partner Sem Verbeek ... They started with a comeback win over Moriya and Safwat ... Next, they r facing Basic and Brkic.

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At $25K ITF Germany-01 2019, Nussloch

[R1] (6) Arjun Kadhe (IND,390) vs Torben Steinorth (GER,UNR)

Doubles
[R1] (1) Liam Broady (GBR)/ Arjun Kadhe (IND) vs Niklas Albuszies (GER)/ Robin Lang (GER)

I think, Arjun is in Germany for a training stint and playing ITF tournament ... In the doubles, he is the top-seed with Broady and in the singles, he is the 6th seed and facing the German qualifier.

Golf News

At $7M Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship 2019, United Arab Emirates (European Tour 2019)

T27 Gaganjeet Bhullar (IND) 70 70 69 72 -7 € 56,536

Gaganjeet failed to score an under-par final round ... So he missed the top-25 finish ... But still decent performance to finish inside the top-30 in this big European tournament.

Tennis News

At $25K ITF Women's Tournament 2019, Singapore

P.C. to Ankita's twitter handle

Singles Final
Ankita Raina (IND,203) bt (1) Arantxa Rus (NED,122) 63 62

Ankita wins the title beating the top-seed Dutch girl, Arantxa Rus, convincingly ... A great title wins considering she lifted the title beating all top 3 seeds ... In the final, She broke Rus early o lead 4-1 and kept that advantage to capture the first set ... In the second set, She broke Rus in the 1st and the 3rd games to lead 4-0 ... Ankita kept this double break advantage for winning the title ... This was Ankita's 4th $25K title and overall the 8th ITF title.

Badminton News

At $350K PERODUA Malaysia Masters 2019, Kuala Lumpur (HSBC BWF World Tour Super 500)

[SF] (7) Saina Nehwal (IND,9) l (4) Carolina Marin (ESP,6) 16-21 13-21

Saina failed to repeat her last few matches performance against facing Carolina Marin ... And Marin took full advantage to win the semis comfortably.

Tennis News

At Australian Open 2019, Melbourne, Australia

[R1] Samantha Stosur (AUS)/ Leander Paes (IND) bt Kveta Peschke (CZE)/ Wesley Koolhof (NED) 64 75
[R1] Zhaoxuan Yang (CHN)/ Rohan Bopanna (IND) l (5) Anna-Lena Groenefeld (GER)/ Robert Farah (COL) 63 36 6-10

[R2] Samantha Stosur (AUS)/ Leander Paes (IND) vs (5) Anna-Lena Groenefeld (GER)/ Robert Farah (COL)

Junior
[R1] Mann Shah (IND,68) l Peter Makk (HUN,64) 64 06 26

Lee with Samantha Stosur started with a straight sets win over Peschke and Koolhof ... Next, they r facing the 5th seeds Groenefeld and Farah, who defeated Rohan and Zhaoxuan Yang in the match tie-break ... Rohan and Yang won the first set but failed to keep momentum after that.

Only Mann Shah played in the junior singles and lost two sets easily after winning the first set against the similar ranked Hungarian.

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At $54K+H Koblenz Challenger 2019, Germany

[SF] (3) Fabricio Neis (BRA)/ Purav Raja (IND) l Jurgen Melzer (AUT)/ Filip Polasek (SVK) 46 46

A match against Jurgen Melzer and Filip Polasek were tough and that proved right as they defeated Purav and Neis in straight sets.

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At $25K ITF Women's Tournament 2019, Singapore

[SF] Ankita Raina (IND,203) bt (3) Conny Perrin (SUI,150) 64 61

[F] Ankita Raina (IND,203) vs (1) Arantxa Rus (NED,122)

Ankita is in the final with straight-sets win over another top-150 Swiss player ... In the first set, Ankita was 0-3 down after that she won 12 games from next 14 games ... In the final, she is facing the top-seed Dutch girl, Arantxa Rus ... It would be a great story if Ankita wins the title beating the top 3 seeds.

Badminton News

At $350K PERODUA Malaysia Masters 2019, Kuala Lumpur (HSBC BWF World Tour Super 500)

[QF] (7) Kidambi Srikanth (IND,8) l (4) Wan Ho Son (KOR,5) 23-21 16-21 17-21

[QF] (7) Saina Nehwal (IND,9) bt (2) Nozomi Okuhara (JPN,2) 21-18 23-21

[SF] (7) Saina Nehwal (IND,9) vs (4) Carolina Marin (ESP,6)

Saina scored an excellent close straight games win over WR #2, Nozomi Okuhara ... In the first game, from 9-all Okuhara opened 9-15 and then 12-16 lean ... Saina cut that lead and was leading 17-16 ... Saina converted the 2nd game point to win the game ... In the second game, both players exchanged the lead ... Okuhara had game points at 20-19 and 21-10 but Saina saved both and converted her first match point for this win ... Next, she is facing Carolina Marin.
Srikanth lost in a long match after winning the first game against the former WR #1 Korean, Wan Ho Son ... Son was a better player in long rallies against Srikanth.