India's Saina Nehwal might have dropped one place down in the rankings to no. 8, but she managed an easy win against Sashina Vignes Waran of France. PV Sindhu, on the other hand, had to work hard to reach the quarterfinals of the Swiss Open 2014.
It took the Olympic bronze medallist Saina exactly 34 minutes to overcome world no. 42 Waran beating her in straight games 21-7, 21-13. Saina has a tough ask ahead facing world champion Yihan Wang of China to move closer to her third title here.
Meeting an unseeded player Li Michelle, there was no easy path as Sindhu lost the first game to her Canadian opponent. She fought her way back in the match, however, and won 19-21, 21-16, 21-11 in 54 minutes. The seventh seed's challenges continue as she'll meet Shixian Wang of China, the third seed and world no. 2, in the next round.
Though Sindhu has an advantage leading 2-0 in career clashes, Shixian Wang is in top form winning the All England Championship on Sunday.
In men's singles, the lone Indian survivor in the $125,000 event is Parupalli Kashyap who dropped seven places in world rankings to No. 25 on Thursday. Kashyap waged a tough battle against Malaysian Beryno Jiann Tze Wong eventually prevailing 21-23, 21-9, 21-14 in 57 minutes. Kashyap will face Tien Chen Chou, who ousted India's Anand Pawar 14-21, 21-12, 21-12 in the second round, in the quarters.
