World Badminton Championship 2022: Saina Nehwal into the Pre-Quarterfinals
Indian badminton star shuttler Saina Nehwal has reached the pre-quarterfinals of the ongoing World Badminton Championships in Tokyo. Apart from Saina Nehwal, the pair of Trisha Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand started off with a win in the women’s doubles category events.
Gayatri Gopichand is the daughter of India’s legendary badminton formal player and current coach Pullela Gopichand. The star Indian shuttler PV Sindhu is not participating in the tournament due to injury.
Sania Nehwal defeated Cheung Ngan Yi of Hong Kong
Saina Nehwal, who had earlier won silver and bronze medals at the World Championships, defeated Cheung Ngan Yi of Hong Kong in straight games in the first-round match. Saina Nehwal won the match by a set score of 21-19, 21-9. The match lasted for 38 minutes.
In the second round, Saina Nehwal had to face Noomi Okuhara of Japan. But Okuhara withdrew from the tournament due to injury. So Saina Nehwal got a walkover and has reached the pre-quarterfinals of the tournament. Now Saina will face the winner from Busanan Ongbamrungphan of Thailand or Yuvoni Lee of Germany.
Easy win in women’s doubles
In the women’s doubles category, the Indian pair of Trisha Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand defeated Malaysian pair Yin Yuvan Lowe and Valeri Siov by the set score of 21-11, 21-13. At the same time, the journey of Venkat Gaurav Prasad and Juhi Devgan came to an end in the mixed doubles category. The Indian pair was defeated by England’s pair of Gregory Meyers and Jenny Moore. Gaurav Prasad and Juhi Devgan lost the match by a set score of 10-21 and 21-23.
PV Sindhu is not part of the tournament due to an injury
Indian badminton legend two times Olympic medalist PV Sindhu is not participating in the world championship due to injury. She got the injury during the commonwealth Games 2022, Birmingham. She had won the gold medal in the women’s singles category in that mega event. PV Sindhu was already injured before the finals of the Commonwealth Games 2022.
