JOIN USFourth seed Saina outclassed Porntip Buranaprasertsuk of Thailand 21-16, 21-8 in a 31-minute clash in the women’s singles while Anand got the better of Pablo Abian 21-11, 21-12 in the men’s singles.
World number four Saina will next face Tzu Ying Tai of Chinese Taipei and Anand will lock horns with the winner of the match between compatriot P Kashyap and world number one Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia.
However, Ajay Jayaram found the going tough and crashed out of the tournament after suffering a 11-21, 16-21 defeat to Tommy Sugiarto. Commonwealth Games gold medallist pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa also lost 16-21, 17-21 to Shinta Mulia Sari and Lei Yao of Singapore in a 30-minute match.
Saina took time to get off the block as Porntip opened up a 7-2 lead but the more experienced Indian slowly narrowed down the lead and then caught up with her at 15-15 before reeling off five straight points to clinch the first game.
In the second, CWG gold medallist was more ruthless as she zoomed to a 8-1 lead, and didn’t allow the Thai shuttler any chance of bouncing back, moving in giant steps to eventually close the issue comfortably.