Denmark Open: Saina Nehwal reaches quarters, Ajay Jayaram knocked out

Odense (Denmark): Defending champion Saina Nehwal advanced to the quarterfinals of the Denmark Super Series Premier with a straight-game thrashing of Scotland`s Kirsty Gilmour in the second round of the women`s singles competition here on Thursday.

The London Olympics bronze medallist notched up a 21-12 21-7 victory over Gilmour in a women`s singles match that lasted only 30 minutes here. The world No 4 Indian will next take on the winner of sixth seed Korean Ji Hyun Sung and Tsz Ka Chan of Hong Kong. Earlier, in a clash between two Indians, RMV Gurusaidutt enjoyed the bragging rights when he prevailed over Ajay Jayaram 21-15 21-16 in a men`s singles match which lasted for 35 minutes. Guru will next take on third seed Chinese Pengyu Du in the quarterfinals. In rampaging form during the Indian Badminton League, Saina took some time to get off the groove which allowed Gilmour to get into a slender 6-3 lead against the Indian in the early stages of the first game. However, the Hyderabadi reeled off six straight points to zoom ahead to 9-6 and then didn`t lower her guard again as Gilmour was left to do the catching up job. In the second game, Saina surged ahead to a 6-0 lead but Gilmour managed to reduce the margin to 4-9. The Indian then extended the gap to a 13-4 lead and kept moving ahead, before eventually sealing the match comfortably.