Saina, Kashyap, Reddy-Attri win; Sindhu loses in Asian Games

Star Indian shuttlers Saina Nehwal and Parupalli Kashyap advanced to the next round but there was heartbreak in store for P V Sindhu in the badminton event of the 17th Asian Games, here today.
The sixth day of the competition also saw rising Indian men's doubles pair of B Sumeeth Reddy and Manu Attri notching up a stunning straight-game win over World No. 10 Chinese pair of Liu Xiaolong and Qiu Zihan in the prequarterfinals.
World number seven Saina thrashed Soraya Aghaeihajiagha of Iran 21-7 21-6 in a women's singles round of 16 match that lasted for 25 minutes at the Gyeyang Gymnasium. The girl from Hyderabad took just 14 minutes to win the first game before pocketing the second in just 11 minutes.

Seeded sixth, Saina will be up against no. 2 seed Wang Yihan of China tomorrow.
However, world number 10 Sindhu suffered a shocking 22-20 16-21 20-22 loss against Indonesia's Manuputty Bellaetrix, ranked 34th, in a 62-minute women's singles contest.
Earlier, Kashyap made the men's singles pre-quarterfinals by registering a straight-game win over Afghanistan's Iqbal Ahmad Shekib.

Commonwealth Games gold medallist Kashyap, who got a bye in the opening round, defeated his Afghani opponent 21-6 21-6 in just 17 minutes to book a place in the next round.
Kashyap breezed through the first game, finishing off his opponent in just eight minutes. The story remained same in the second game as well with the 28-year-old Indian taking just a minute longer than the first to see off Shekib.

However, it was the stunning performance of World No. 32 Manu and Sumeeth that created a flutter when they beat the 2013 All England Champions, Liu and Qiu 21-17 21-16 in a 43-minute contest. They will take on World No. 2 Indonesian combo of Ahsan Mohammad and Setiawan Hendra next.
Manu also did well in the mixed doubles event as he and his partner N Sikki Reddy won their round of 32 match against Rasheed Aishath Afnaan and Sharafuddeen Nasheeu 21-8 21-4 in just 15 minutes.
They will be up against Chrisnanta Danny Bawa and Neo Yu Yan Vanessa of Singapore next.

In a mixed doubles round of 32 match however, India suffered a reverse with Akshay Dewalkar and Pradnya Gadre losing 20-22 21-17 13-21 to Triyachart Chayut and Yao Lei of Singapore. They lost the match in 42 minutes.