World Badminton Championships 2017: Saina, Srikanth, Ajay & Praneeth enter pre - quarters

SAINA NEHWAL looked in great touch as she trumped her opponent Sabrina Jaquet in straight games 21-11, 21-12.

The 12th seed Indian had received a bye in the first round and therefore was playing her first match at this year's Championships. A dominant performance from which she maintained throughout the match.

She didn't let her opponent get back at any moment and it was rather an easy encounter for the 2015 BWC Silver medallist.

“It was a tricky match I felt. Sabrina is a formidable opponent but I am happy that I overpowered her nicely in the match,” Saina said after the match.

“We have very good players representing the country this year and wish to see everyone perform well in the tournament,” she further added.

Sai Praneeth came back from being down in the first game to seal a place in the pre-quarters, beating Indonesian youngster Anthony Ginting 14-21, 21-18, 21-19. He is likely to face 6th seed Chou Tien Chen next.

“It was a very tough match and even though I played well, I must I must admit that I had luck on my side today. I am very thrilled with the outcome and the victory will for sure give me a lot of confidence going ahead in the tournament,” Sai said after the match.

“I was getting caught initially as the shuttle speed was very slow and he was playing very fast. I could not match him initially but slowly adjusted to his speed. He is a tough player and his game has improved a lot since I last played him. I am really happy to win and now I am focused on my next match,” he further added.

“I am going through the best phase of my career and I am confident that if I could continue the way I have been playing, I would do very well in the tournament,” the 25-year-old said.

8th seed Kidambi Srikanth too entered round three after beating Lucas Corvee 21-9, 21-17 and will play 14th seed Anders Antonsen next.

13th seed Ajay Jayaram too had a good outing as he defeated Mark Caljouw 21-13, 21-18. He will next face tough opponent in 5th seed Chen Long.

While Tanvi Lad, Ashwini Ponnappa/Sikki Reddy, Sameer Verma, Sanjana Santosh/Sara Sunil and Rituparna Das ended their campaign.

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