Birmingham, March 7: Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal progressed to the quarterfinals of the All England Championships with a come-from-behind win over Denmark's Line Hojmark Kjaersfeldt in the women's singles competition here on Thursday.
In the men’s singles final World No. 8 Kidambi Srikanth put up a clinical display to get the better off Jonatan Christie in a thrilling contest, which lasted nearly an hour, winning the tie 21-17, 11-21, 21-12. With the win Srikanth also secured a quarterfinal berth.
King @srikidambi continues reign 🤴 💪🏻
— BAI Media (@BAI_Media) March 7, 2019
The Indian World No 8️⃣ storms to the QF of the @YonexAllEngland with a lethal and clinical display to get the better of @jonatan979 in a thrilling 21-17, 11-21,21-12 contest that lasted nearly an hour! All Hail! 🙏#IndiaontheRise #YAE19 pic.twitter.com/2zapD7vlei
A 2015 finalist, Saina was blown away by world no 19 Line in the opening game but the experienced campaigner kept her cool to take the match to the decider and eventually come up trumps against her Danish rival.
The eighth seeded Indian rallied her way to a 8-21, 21-16, 21-13 win over the 24-year-old Line in a 51-minute match and is expected to take on her nemesis and two-time champion Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei, an opponent who defeated her in last 12 outings.
Earlier, Saina had defeated Scotland's Kirsty Gilmour 21-17, 21-18 in 35 minutes in her opening match on Wednesday night.
Comeback Queen! 👸@NSaina gives a trademark display of indomitable spirit with a 🔥display; pulls back the match after going down in the first game to outclass Line Kjaersfeldt 8-21,21-16,21-13 and secure her place in the QF of @YonexAllEngland 2019. #IndiaontheRise #YAE19 pic.twitter.com/UkhvCT6HZH
— BAI Media (@BAI_Media) March 7, 2019
In men's singles, former Singapore Open champion B Sai Praneeth's fight lasted just 35 minutes as he went down 12-21, 17-21 to 24-year-old Ng Ka Long Angus, who had denied Sameer Verma a title win at the 2016 Hong Kong Super Series. It was his third loss to the World no 15 from Hong Kong.