BWF Worlds: Saina Nehwal wins, gets a bye in second round, advances to PQFs

Former world No.1 Saina Nehwal made it to the pre-quarterfinals of the BWF World Championships in Tokyo on Tuesday.
Saina, who won a silver and bronze at the Worlds, is just two more victories away from winning her third medal at the Worlds.
Saina downed Cheung Ngan Yi of Hong Kong 21-19, 21-9 in women's singles first round. Saina got a bye in the second round as her opponent Nozomi Okuhara pulled out in the last minute. The Japanese former world champion got a bye in the first round and by virtue of that Saina got a direct entry into the third round.

Saina will play the winner of the second round match between Busanan Ongbamrungphan of Thailand and Yvonne Li of Germany on Thursday.

Teen shuttlers Gayatri Gopichand and Treesa Jolly made short work of Low Yeen Yuan and Valeree Siow of Malaysia 21-11, 21-13 in the women's singles first round. The Indian girls have a tough second round against 10th seeded Malaysians Pearly Tan and Thinaah Muralitharan. The girls lost thrice this year against the Malaysians and two times at the recently concluded Commonwealth Games.
Another Indian pair of Ashwini Bhat and Shikha Gautam eased past Martina Corsini and Judith Mair of Italy 21-8, 21-14. They are also drawn up against the formidable Korean pair of Kim So Yeong and Kong Hee Yong.
Seasoned campaigners Ashwini Ponnappa and Sikki Reddy play top seeds Chen Qing Chen and Jia Yi Fan of China on Wednesday.

India suffered two losses in mixed doubles. Ishaan Bhatnagar and Tanisha Crasto lost their second round match to 14th seeds Supak Jomkoh and Supissara Paewsampran of Thailand 14-21, 17-21 while Gregory Mairs and Jenny Moore of England knocked out Venkat Gaurav Prasad and Juhi Dewangan 21-10, 23-21 in the first round.

Results:

Women's singles: Saina Nehwal bt Cheung Ngan Yi (Hkg) 21-19, 21-9

Women's doubles (Rd I): Gayatri Gopichand Pullela/Treesa Jolly bt Low Yeen Yuan/Valeree Siow (Mas) 21-11, 21-13; Ashwini Bhat/Shikha Gautam bt Martina Corsini/Judith Mair (Ita) 21-8, 21-14.

Men's doubles (Rd I): Fabien Delrue/William Villeger (Fra) bt Krishna Prasad Garaga/Vishnuvardhan Goud Panjala 21-14, 21-18.

Mixed doubles (Rd I): Gregory Mairs/Jenny Moore (Eng) bt Venkat Gaurav Prasad/Juhi Dewangan 21-10, 23-21.

(Rd-II): 14-Supak Jomkoh/Supissara Paewsampran (Tha) bt Ishaan Bhatnagar/Tanisha Crasto 21-14, 21-17