Saina, Sindhu enter quarters; Lin Dan, Lee Chong Wei ousted

Defending champion Saina Nehwal and two-time World Championship bronze medallist PV Sindhu advanced to the quarterfinals but it turned out to be a dismal day for star shuttlers Lin Dan and Lee Chong Wei, who crashed out of the India Open Super Series here today.

Sindhu was a little circumspect during the match and committed a few unforced errors before surpassing Thailand’s Busanan Ongbumrungphan 17-21 21-19 21-16 in a women's singles match that lasted an hour and 16 minutes here.

She will next take on Korea's Bae Yeon Ju, who beat Japan's Yui Hashimoto 21-16 21-10 in another match.

Later in the day, Saina saw off Nitchaon Jindapol of Thailand 21-19 21-14 to set up a clash with Korean fifth seed Sung Ji Hyun.

However, the highlight of the day was the stunning losses of two-time silver medallist Lee Chong Wei and five-time World Championship Lin Dan, considered to be the biggest contenders for the Rio Games gold medal.

While Korea's Son Wan Ho stunned the six-time All England champion Lin Dan of China, seeded fourth, 21-13 22-20, former World no. 1 Lee, top seed, suffered a 19-21 19-21 loss to Hong Kong's Wei Nan, ranked World No. 14. Two more top 10 players bite the dust in men’s singles at the Siri Fort Sports Complex here.

While Xue Song saw off Denmark Jan O Jorgensen, seeded 3rd, 21-18 15-21 21-14 to emerge as the only surviving Chinese in men's singles, Germany's Marc Zwiebler stunned Chinese seventh seed Tian Houwei, who had reached the finals of the All England Championship, 18-21 21-19 23-21 in a thrilling contest in the men's singles.

Among other Indians, Rituparna Das sank without trace against fourth seed Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand 9-21 4-21 in just 21 minutes in a women's singles clash.

In women's doubles, Mohita Sahdev and Sanjana Santosh defeated compatriot Ch Poornima and Rachita Sahdev 21-16 21-7.

They will meet Japanese combo of Naoko Fukuman and Kurumi Yonao.

Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy suffered a 19-21 12-21 loss to Chinese Taipei's Chen Hung Ling and Chi-Lin Wang, while Jishnu Sanyal and Shivam Sharma lost 17-21 15-21 to Chinese Taipei's Lee Sheng Mu and Tsai Chia Hsin in another men's doubles match.

Indian pair of Gauri Asaji and Karishma Wadkar also suffered an embarrasing 5-21 7-21 loss to top seeds Nitya Krishinda Maheswari and Greysia Polii of Indonesia in women's doubles, while Manu and Ashwini Ponnappa also lost 10-21 17-21 to Chinese pair of Zhang Wen and Jia Yifan.