Saina, Praneeth reach pre-quarterfinals of Swiss Open

BASEL, Mar 16:
Two-time champion and top seed Saina Nehwal and B Sai Praneeth reached the pre-quarterfinals of the women’s and men’s singles competition at the USD 120,000 Swiss Open Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament here today.
Olympic bronze medallist Saina, who had clinched the Swiss Open in 2011 and 2012, saw off Germany’s Karin Schnaase 21-7 21-15 in 33 minutes to set up a meeting with Czech’s Kristina Gavnholt at St Jakobshalle here.
Sai Praneeth, who had stunned former World No. 1 Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia in the opening round of the All England Championship last week, prevailed over Uzbekistan’s Artyom Savatyugin 21-7 21-10 in a 21-minute match. (PTI)