Basel: Two-time champion and top seed Saina Nehwal and B. Sai Praneeth reached the pre-quarterfinals of the women’s and men’s singles competition at the Swiss Open Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament here on Wednesday.
Olympic bronze medallist Saina, who had clinched the Swiss Open in 2011 and 2012, saw off Germany’s Karin Schnaase 21-7, 21-15 in 33 minutes to set up a meeting with Czech’s Kristina Gavnholt at St Jakobshalle here.
Sai Praneeth, who had stunned former World No.1 Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia in the opening round of the All England Championship last week, prevailed over Uzbekistan’s Artyom Savatyugin 21-7, 21-10 in a 21-minute match.
In the opening round, 11th-seeded shuttler Ajay Jayaram thrashed Malaysia’s Jiann Shiarng Chiang in straight games 21-8, 21-17. He will face Japan’s Kenichi Tago next. H.S. Prannoy, seeded 13th, also reached the second round after eking out a hard-fought straight-games 21-19, 21-19 win over Finland’s Kalle Koljonen. Young Sameer Verma also continued to impress with a hard-fought 21-17, 24-22 win over Denmark’s Emil Holst.
