Saina Nehwal and Parupalli Kashyap and P.V. Sindhu reached the quarterfinals of the World Badminton Championships in their respective categories in Guangzhou on Thursday.
In a fantastic day for Indian badminton where all three shuttlers reached the last eight stage, of the tournament so far.
This is the first time India will have three representatives in the last eight stage of the prestigious world championship and are just one victory away from ensuring a medal. While Saina's entry into the quarterfinals was expected, Asian Junior champion Sindhu and London Olympics quarterfinalist P Kashyap punched way above their weight. Sindhu, incidentally, is playing in her maiden world championship.
Sindhu, who had lost to Yihan in their only encounter previously at the Sudirman Cup in May, fought hard in the first game. The Indian managed to take a 12-9 lead before Yihan levelled at 16-all. Thereon, Sindhu used her height to her advantage by dropping the shuttle regularly at the net, enabling her to take the game.
Earlier, third seed Saina overcame a jittery start against Thai Porntip Buranaprasertsuk to also move into the last eight.
Parupalli Kashyap, seeded 13th, advanced to the men's singles quarters beating Hong Kong's sixth seed Yun Hu.
All the three Indians are just one step away from clinching a medal in the tourney.
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