CWG: Saina, Srikanth storm into next round

Saina Nehwal stormed into women's singles prequarters after thrashing South Africa's Elsie de Villiers 21-3, 21-1.

Saina Nehwal thrashed South Africa's Elsie de Villiers 21-3, 21-1 in her Round of 32 singles match.

Saina Nehwal stormed into women's singles pre-quarters at the Commonwealth Games after thrashing South Africa's Elsie de Villiers 21-3, 21-1 on Wednesday.

In a lopsided contest, Saina prevailed over her opponent right from the start and as the scoreline suggests, the Indian ace didn't had to break a sweat.

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Meanwhile, in the men's singles, Kidambi Srikanth too had a solid start to his campaign. He defeated Aatish Lubah of Mauritius 21-13, 21-10 in his round of 32 match.

The Indian shuttlers would be high on confidence after their success in the mixed team event, where they won a gold, beating Malaysia in the final.

In another match, medal hope for India in badminton singles, P.V. Sindhu too sailed into the Round of 16 after thrashing Andra Whiteside of Fiji 21-6, 21-3. This was Sindhu's first outing at Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, after not taking the court in India's title win in mixed team event.

Ruthvika Gadde has also quietly entered the pre-quarters, with her win over Ghana's Grace Atipaka 21-5, 21-7 on Wednesday.