Saina, Sridhar enter pre-quarters

Ace shuttler Saina Nehwal and Olympian Anup Sridhar advanced to the pre-quarterfinals of the Singapore Open Super Series even as three other Indians were shown the door on Wednesday.

Sixth seed Saina survived some anxious moments before edging past qualifier Maja Tvrdy of Slovenia 18-21, 21-11, 21-16 in a 50-minute gruelling battle in her opening tie.

She will next lock horns with Indonesian Adrianti Firdasari, who beat qualifier Korean Moon Hi Kim 23-21, 21-15 in her opening match in Singapore city.

Sridhar continued his good run and defeated Thai Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk 22-20, 21-19 in just 33 minutes.

He will next face the winner of the match between Dane Peter Hoeg Gade and Dicky Palyama on Thursday.

However, World number 12 Chetan Anand did not enjoy the same luck as his campaign was cut short in the first round itself after a 18-21, 11-21 lose against Malaysian Choong Hann Wong.

Arvind Bhatt played his heart out but met with the same fate, going down 12-21, 21-15, 9-21 to third seed Sony Dwi Kuncoro of Indonesia in a 43-minute contest.

Among other Indians, Aditi Mutatkar also suffered a first round defeat against Judith Meulendijks of Netherlands. She went down 21-14 21-19 in another singles match.

It was also curtains for India's mixed doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and V Diju as the duo went down to sixth seeded Chinese pair of Zhongbo Xie and Yawen Zhang 21-13, 21-14. 

Stretched by a qualifier in her opening match, Saina said she was finding it difficult to adjust to the conditions. 

"It was a difficult match. She was a solid player. She was better aware of the conditions while I struggled initially. I was making many unforced errors, hitting the shuttle outside and conceded the game," she said.

"But in the second and third game, I could control the shuttle better and I involved her in long rallies. She was finding it difficult and made many unforced errors," Saina added.

Asked about her next round rival, the 20-year-old Hyderabadi said the Indonesian was in a very good nick and she would have to give her best to beat her. 

"I have played against Firdasari, she is a very good player. Our count so far is 1-1. I had beaten her last year here, while she defeated me in Korea. So I will have to play very well," she said.