Odense: Star Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal stormed into the quarter-finals of the Denmark Open, defeating second seed Akane Yamaguchi in the second round match here on Thursday.
In a match which lasted 36 minutes, the Hyderabadi shuttler outplayed Japanese shuttler Yamaguchi 21-15, 21-17 in straight games.
Right from the start, Saina seemed positive and played aggressively. Her swift court movements and powerful smashes helped her to advance in the meet.
Saina will now take on former world champion Nozomi Okuahara in the quarters.
In other matches, Sameer Verma advanced, defeating Jonatan Christie of Indonesia in a 23-21, 6-21, 22-20 marathon match of more than an hour.
In the women's doubles category, Ashwini Ponnappa and N. Sikki Reddy also made it to the next round as they edged past Lee So Hee and Shin Seung Chan of South Korea. The Indian duo defeated their opponent 18-21, 22-20, 21-18 in an hour's match.