Saina, Srikanth steal the show at Australian Badminton c’ship

Sydney: Star Indian badminton players Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth cruised into the quarter-finals of women’s and men’s singles of the Australian Badminton at Sydney Olympic Park.

World no. 13 Srikanth edged Indonesial Sony Dwi Kuncoro 21-19, 21-12 and booked his berth in the last-eight stage of the USD 750,000 championship while seventh seeded Saina beat Malaysian Jin Wei Goh by 21-12,21-14.

• Saina will face World No.2 Ratchanok Intanon in the second quarter finals.
• Srikanth will next take on South Korean qualifier Kwang Hee Heo in the quarters.

Earlier in the day, India's Sameer Verma and Tanvi Lad crashed out of the tournament after suffering contrasting defeats.