Saina in quarters, Jwala-Ashwini, Manu-Sumeeth out of Indonesia Open

Star shuttler Saina Nehwal`s straight-game win in the pre-quarterfinals of the Indonesia Open Superseries was the lone bright spot as Rio-bound doubles pairs, Jwala Gutta-Ashwini Ponappa and Manu Attri-B Sumeeth Reddy, crashed out today.

World No.8 Saina registered a comprehensive 21-11, 21-10 win over local favourite Fitriani Fitriani to advance to the quarter-finals of the women`s singles at the Istora Gelora Bung Karno Stadium here.

Saina, who had beaten Fitriani at the Badminton Asia Championships in April this year, moved to a 9-7 lead, and then raced to 14-7 with six consecutive points to pocket the first game.

In the second game, the Hyderabadi zoomed 10-3 ahead and went on to thrash the Indonesian without losing much sweat.

Saina, the three-time champion, is likely to take on top seed Carolina Marin of Spain in the last eight.

However, India`s doubles shuttlers failed to make an impact as both the women`s and men`s pairs of Jwala- Ashwini and Manu-Sumeeth suffered contrasting defeats.

The World No.14 duo of Jwala-Ashwini lost 9-21, 18-21 to Chinese combo of Huang Yaqiong and Tang Jinhua in the women`s doubles, while No.20 Manu-Sumeeth went down 18-21, 13-21 to sixth seeded South Koreans Ko Sung Hyun and Shin Baek Cheol.