Orleans Masters badminton: Saina, Ira enter quarter-finals

India's Saina Nehwal beat France's Marie Batomene 18-21, 21-15, 21-10 in a Round of 16 match to reach the women's singles quarter-finals of the Orleans Masters Super 1000 badminton tournament here on Thursday.

In another women's singles Round of 16 match, Ira Sharma beat Bulgaria's Mariya Mitsova 21-18, 21-13 to reach the quarter-finals. In the men's doubles event, M.R. Arjun and Dhruv Kapila reached the quarter-finals after beating Rory Easton and Zach Russ of England in the Round of 16.

However, Ashwini Ponnappa and N. Sikki Reddy reached the women's doubles quarter-finals of the Orleans Masters Super 100 tournament after receiving a bye in their second round match against Indonesia's Fabriana Kusuma and Amalia Pratiwi.

Ashwini and Sikki had reached the second round on Wednesday after a 21-9, 17-21, 21-19 wins over Denmark's Amalie Magelund and Freja Ravn.

The Badminton World Federation had earlier stated on Tuesday Indonesian women's doubles pair had been withdrawn after one player tested positive for Covid-19. "The player has been asked to self-isolate in her hotel room. Her doubles partner has been identified as a close contact and asked to quarantine in a separate hotel room," said the BWF.

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