Saina strolls into pre-quarters at Olympics

Saina Nehwal soaked whatever her Ukrainian opponent Larysa threw at her before delivering the knockout punch.

Saina Nehwal, India’s best bet in badminton, soaked whatever her Ukrainian opponent Larysa Gryga threw at her before delivering the knockout punch to pocket a pre-quarterfinal berth in the women’s singles event at Olympics.

Playing under a laden sky at the Beijing University of Technology Gymnasium, the Indian took time to gauge her opponent, whom she played for the first time, before pulling out all the stops to tame her 21-18, 21-10 in just 28 minutes.

Saina’s real test, however, begins now, for the Indian is set to lock horns tomorrow with world number five and fourth seed Chen Wang of Hong Kong, someone she could not beat in her last two attempts.

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“It’s going to be tough, no question about that,” Saina, bathed in sweat, said after the second round match.

“We met twice so far and on all two occasions, she won.

But at the same time, both the matches went right down to the wire, which means she had to break sweat getting past me. I cannot predict the outcome but I can assure all that I would put my 100 percent on Monday,” she said.

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