BWF World Championships 2022: Saina Nehwal Beats Nazomi Okuhara in Straight Sets; Advances to Pre-Quarters

Former world number one Saina Nehwal started her campaign in the BWF World Championships on Tuesday defeating her Japanese opponent Nazomi Okuhara in straight games in the first round.

Saina Nehwal (Photo credit: Twitter)
Tokyo (Japan), Aug 23: Former World No 1 Saina Nehwal started her campaign in the BWF Badminton World Championships here on Tuesday defeating her rival in straight games in the first round. She then got a walkover from sixth-seeded Nazomi Okuhara of Japan, who pulled out due to an injury, and stormed into the pre-quarterfinals in the women's singles.The 32-year-old Saina, who won a silver medal in the 2015 World Championships in Jakarta and a bronze in 2017 in Glasgow, on Tuesday, stormed past Cheung Ngan Yi of Hong Kong, quelling her challenge 21-19, 21-9 in 38 minutes. From 4-4 in the first game, Cheung Ngan Yi opened a small lead before Saina caught up with her at 10-10. Scores went neck-and-neck till 18-18 before Saina won the last few points to seal victory. BWF World Championships 2022: China’s Shi Yuqi Sails Into Final 16 at Badminton Worlds.

The second game was more one-sided as Saina, who enjoyed a 4-1 head-to-head lead over her rival, opened an early lead and kept her advantage throughout from 5-3 to build a lead of 14-8 and went on to seal the victory. The women's doubles pair of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand too advanced, beating Malaysia's Low Yeen Yuan and Valeree Siow 21-11, 21-13 in 37 minutes. Another women's doubles pair Ashwini Bhat and Shikha Gautam too made it to the second round, beating the Italian pair of Martina Corsini and Judith Mair 21-8, 21-14. However, the mixed doubles pair of Ishan Bhatnagar and Tanisha Crasto went down to 14th seed Supak Jomkoh and Supissara Paewsampran of Thailand, 14-21, 17-21.

In men's doubles, the Indian pair of Krishna Prasad Garaga and Vishnuvardhan Goud Panjala lost to the French pair of Fabien Delrue and William Villeger 14-21, 18-21. The mixed doubles pair of Venkat Gautam Prasad and Juhi Dewangan too was ousted despite putting up a tough fight in the second game, losing to England's Gregory Mairs and Jenny Moore 10-21, 21-23 in 28 minutes.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 23, 2022 06:32 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).

Share Now

Share Now