Defending champion Sameer Verma and former champions Saina Nehwal and Parupalli Kashyap progressed to the quarter-finals of the Syed Modi International World Super Tour 300 with contrasting victories at Lucknow on Thursday.
Second-seeded Saina, who is a three-time winner, defeated Amolika Singh Sisodiya 21-14, 21-9, while two-time champion Kashyap recovered from a game down to see off Indonesia’s Firman Abdul Kholik 9-21, 22-20, 21-8 in another match.
Third seed Sameer beat China’s Zhao Junpeng 22-20, 21-17 and will meet China’s Zhou Zeqi. Saina will next face eight seeded compatriot Rituparna Das, who beat fellow Indian Shruti Mundada 21-11, 21-15 in a one-sided clash. Kashyap will meet Thailand’s Sitthikom Thammasin, seeded 8th.
B Sai Praneeth, seeded 4th, brushed aside Indonesia’s Shesar Hiren Rhustavito 21-12, 21-10 and will take on China’s Lu Guangzu, seeded sixth, ended the run of Saarlorlux champion Subhankar Dey with a 21-13 21-10 win.
In women’s singles, Sai Uttejitha Rao Chukka also notched up a 21-12, 21-15 win over Reshma Karthik. She will square off against former Olympic champion Li Xuerui, who is seeded 7th.
Mixed doubles pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Ashwini Ponnappa also entered the last eight by defeating compatriots Shivam Sharma and Poorvisha S Ram 12-21, 21-14, 21-15.