Saina Nehwal drops to 10th, Chetan, Arvind rise in rankings

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Saina Nehwal drops to 10th, Chetan, Arvind rise in rankings

NEW DELHI: Ace shuttler Saina Nehwal's first round exit in the Asian Badminton Championship has pushed the Hyderabadi girl two places down the rung a
t 10, even as Chetan Anand climbed one spot in the latest ranking issued on Thursday.

Saina, who rose to the eighth spot riding on her quarter-finals appearance in the Indian Open recently, faltered in the first round of the Asian badminton Champion. The 20-year-old shuttler lost 21-14, 14-21, 12-21 against Jiang Yanjiao of China.

In contrast, Chetan, who also lost in the first round going down 13-21, 19-21 to lesser known Japanese Kozai Kazuteru, managed to rise one spot, while Arvind Bhat who decided to take a break to regain his complete fitness also gained a place to 27th spot.

Meanwhile, P Kashyap, who reached the quarter-finals of the Asian badminton Championship before losing to fourth seed Chinese Bao Chunlai ranked 35th, while Anand Pawar who was ousted in the second round figured at the 49th place.

However, Indian mixed doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and V Diju retained their number 10 spot in the latest ranking.

Source: TOI

Saina's Olympic nemesis comes calling at Indian Open

Hyderabad, Mar 24 (PTI) She crushed Saina Nehwal's Olympic dreams in Beijing and world number 18 Maria Kristin Yulianti is hoping for an encore if the two face off in the Indian Open Grand Prix Badminton tournament starting here tomorrow.

"Saina is a world class player. What happened in Beijing is past. This is a new tournament and a new challenge. I have always enjoyed playing against Saina. She is really fast and cover the court really well. I hope I can defeat her this time too," 23-year-old Yulianti said.

Yulianti had beaten Saina in the Olympic quarterfinals where she came back from 12-19 down to get the better of the Indian.

Saina is not the only one Yulianti is wary of and said she is not taking her other opponents lightly either.

"The field is tough and if one has to win this one, she has to be really at her best," she said.

Playing such a big tournament after a long knee injury lay-off after the Olympics, Yulianti said she is here to acclimatise herself for the world championship to be held here in August. PTI