Saina enters 2nd round of All England Badminton Championships, Sameer crashes out

Speed Post News Network

Patna : World No 9 Saina Nehwal, 28, India, entered the women’ s singles 2nd round of Yonex All England Badminton Championships, a Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour 1,000 points tournament, at Arena Birmingham, England, on March 6, 2019, late night.

Saina, the 8th seed, beat World No 29 Kirty Gilmour, Scotland, 21-17, 21-18 in 35 minutes in the first round. Saina won 42 rallies in the match to 35 by Gilmour. She won 5 consecutive points in the match to 4 by Gilmour. Saina now leads Gilmour 7-0 head to head. Saina will face World No 19 Line Hojmark Kjaersfeldt, Denmark, in the 2nd round on March 7, 2o19.

In the men’s singles World No 14 Sameer Verma, 24, India, went down fighting to World No 6 and 2017 World Champion Viktor Axelsen, 25, Denmark, 21-16, 18-21, 14-21 in 65 minutes in the 1st round. Axelsen won 58 rallies in the match to 53 by Sameer. Axelsen won 8 consecutive points in the match to 5 by Sameer. Axelsen, a former World No 1, leads Sameer 3-0 head to head.