World Badminton: Jwala, Ashwini storm into semis, Saina exits
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India's Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa stormed into the semi-final of the World Badminton championships, upsetting Indonesian Vita Marissa and Nadya Melati 17-21, 21-10, 21-17 in women's doubles here Friday.
India's best hope Saina Nehwal, however, bowed out of the women's singles, losing to Xin Wang of China 15-21, 10-21 in the quarterfinal.
Saina, seeded sixth, went down to the third seed in 30 minutes. In the previous two editons also Saina made a quarter-final exit.
With Saina's loss, India's challenge in the singles competition came to an end.
Unseeded Jwala and Ashwini, the gold medallist at the Commonwealth Games, kept Indian interest alive.
Continuing their giant-killing act, Jwala and Ashwini beat the Indonesian pair in 47 minutes. They lost the first game, but fought their way back to clinch the match.
Jwala and Ashwini shocked second seeded Wen Hsing Cheng and Yu Chin Chien in the second round to register their career's biggest upset win. In the third round, they went on to beat Hong Kong's Lok Yan Poon and Ying Suet Tse, seeded 11th.
They will next meet China's Qing Tian and Yunlei Zhao, seeded fifth, who made short work of Japan's Mizuki Fujii and Reika Kakiiwa 21-16, 21-10.
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