India's ace shuttler Saina Nehwal's poor form in the international arena continued as she crashed out of the $300,000 Singapore Super Series after losing to Eriko Hirose of Japan in a hard-fought three-game battle in her opening round women's singles match in Singapore.
Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal reached the women's singles semi-finals with a comfortable straight-game win, but compatriot P V Sindhu failed to cross the quarterfinal hurdle in the $750,000 Star Australian Super Series, in Sydney on Friday.
Saina Nehwal scored a hard-fought victory over Eriko Hirose of Japan to enter the quarter-finals in the women's singles at the Singapore Super Series.
Saina Nehwal avenged her quarter-final defeat at the Thailand Open on Wednesday, beating Singapore's Juan Gu in straight games in the opening round of the Singapore Super Series. The World No 2 Indian ace needed only 40 minutes to pack off Juan, ranked 21, winning 21-14, 23-21 and registering her fifth victory over the local player.
India's campaign at the Badminton Asia Championships ended after P V Sindhu lost her women's singles quarter-final against Eriko Hirose of Japan in a hard-fought contest in Taipei on Friday.
The second seeded Indian beat All-England finalist Eriko 21-15, 17-21, 21-11 in a little under 60 minutes and set up quarter-final meeting with sixth seeded Bulgarian Petya Nedelcheva, at the Wilson Swiss Open Super Series.
Title contender and Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal stormed into the quarter-finals of the women's single competition at the All England Badminton Championships with a straight-set victory over her Chinese Taipei opponent in Birmingham.
Over 70 foreign shuttlers, up from 25 entries in the previous year, will take part in the $15,000 Tata Open India International Challenge 2011 to be held at the NSCI courts in Worli from December 14-18.
India's Saina Nehwal cruised into the quarter-finals of the World Badminton Championships, defeating Russia's Ella Diehl in the third round of the women's singles event in Paris on Thursday.
Defending champion Saina Nehwal dished out yet another dominating performance, routing Japan's Eriko Hirose 21-9, 21-10 to storm into the final of the Indonesian Open Super Series badminton tournament in Jakarta on Saturday. Saina thus earned a shot at her second successive Super Series title, having won the one in Singapore last week.
It was supposed to be her best chance of winning the coveted title but Saina Nehwal let it slip as she went down in straight games to unseeded Japanese Eriko Hirose in the quarter-finals of the prestigious All England Badminton Championship in Birmingham.
India's best hope in the women's singles, Saina Nehwal bowed out of the Yonex Sunrise India Open Grand Prix badminton tournament, though Chetan Anand and Anand Pawar kept hopes alive by defeating their rivals in the men's pre-quarterfinal matches in Hyderabad on Thursday.
Saina Nehwal shrugged off the disappointment of last week's Japan Open debacle and spanked Japanese Ai Goto in straight games to cruise into the quarter-finals of the China Masters Super Series in Changzhou, China, on Thursday. India's 18-year-old national champion won a lop-sided contest, that lasted just 21 minutes, 21-12, 21-10.
Sanave Thomas and Rupesh Kumar advanced in the badminton doubles after India's challenge ended in the singles events at the Asian Games.
The Indian pair was trounced by China's Yawen Zhang and Yili Wie in the second round of women's doubles at the World Badminton Championships.
Arvind Bhat continued his impressive run to enter the men's singles quarter-finals of the $120,000 German Open Grand Prix Gold after posting a straight-game victory over Daren Liew of Malaysia in Mulheim an der Ruhr.
Top shuttlers Saina Nehwal and Parupalli Kashyap along with two other Indians sailed into the second round of the Denmark Super Series Premier with contrasting wins in the opening round, but it was curtains for P V Sindhu in Odense on Wednesday.
Star shuttler and Olympic bronze medallist Saina Nehwal of India will begin the hunt for her first title of the season and also eye a return to the top-5 when the China Open Super Series Premier starts with the qualifiers in Shanghai from Tuesday.
Ace shuttlers Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu came up with spectacular victories but the Indian women's team still had to be satisfied with the bronze medal after it went down fighting 2-3 to five-time champions Japan in its maiden semifinals appearance in the Uber Cup on Friday.