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The world number two Saina Nehwal swept her way through to the quarter-finals of the World Badminton Championships with a 21-14, 21-18 victory over the Russian 13th seed Ella Diehl in just 40 minutes. Meanwhile, Stade Pierre de Coubertin reverberated to the tremors caused by the impressive young Japanese who answers to the name of Eriko Hirose. The tenth seed put out the lights on the world number one Yihan Wang with a hard fought 20-22, 21-16, 21-18 victory that took well over an hour.

Saina was way more impressive in her performance this Thursday, considering her rocky start to this edition's expectant campaign at the centre of Paris. The Hyderabadi lass had to plough her way back in the second round, after losing the first game against Hsiao Huan Chen of Taipei 20-22, before coming back to win the next two 21-15 21-8 to remain in contention.

Saina's performance in the third round was a characteristic display of finesse at the net combined with some powerful smashes from the back of the court. The first game saw Saina dominate her opponent after pulling away with an early lead, thanks to some smart play in the forecourt where she won 8 of the 13 exchanges. The second game was a close contest, but with the players tied at 17-17 the Indian put the match to bed striking her way past an overwhelmed opponent. Saina has a clean slate against Diehl having won all five matches contested between them.

In a huge upset, Eriko Hirose continued her meteoric rise to badminton glory with a hard fought victory over the top woman in badminton. Hirose has enjoyed a phenomenal year - climbing from around 40th in the world last November, making her way into the top ten in the past ten months. In her third round encounter against Yihan Wang, the Japanese refused to flinch in an intense battle that lasted 76 minutes. There was barely anything to separate the two, but Hirose displayed guts and gumption in the final two games to emerge the winner by a narrow margin. In a match highlighted by long rallies, Hirose made smart use of stamina and clever placement to register her first victory against the Chinese in four attempts.

Eriko's heroics have provided a gateway of opportunity for Saina and Xin Wang - whose date in the semi-finals will now be a straight battle for the top ranking besides a spot in the final, if both of them reach that stage.

The path ahead though doesn't get any easier for Saina. The twenty year old protégé of Pullela Gopichand needs to find her way past the sixth seed Shixian Wang in the quarters, before earning the right to face the guile of world number three Xin Wang. Saina has lost both her matches against Xin, so it will be interesting to see if she can find the resources to outwit her crafty nemesis.

In the men's section, the top seed Chong Wei Lee of Malaysia ousted Englishman Rajiv Ouseph 21-9, 21-9 to set up an intriguing quarter-final clash against Indonesia's world number 5 Taufik Hidayat. Korean Sung Hwan Park seeded 13th, upset the Vietnamese 7th seed Tien Minh Nguyen to earn a quarter-final match against world number three Dan Lin.

Taipei's Hsuan Yi Hsueh, ranked 55th, upset the world number nine Boonsak Ponsana to reach the quarter-finals against the world number four Jin Chen of China. The second seeded Dane Peter Gade will play his quarter-final against the unseeded Japanese Kazushi Yamada.

Indians had mixed fortunes in the doubles events on Thursday. The mixed doubles pairing of Jwala Gutta and Valiyaveetil Diju came from behind to defeat Singapore's Chayut Triyachart and Lei Yao 14-21, 21-18, 21-14. The men's doubles pair of Rupesh Kumar and Sanave Thomas lost 16-21, 16-21 to Danes Lars Paaske and Jonas Rasmussen. Jwala Gutta lost her women's doubles match playing alongside Ashwini Ponnappa. Jwala and Ashwini came up short 14-21, 15-21 against Jung Eun Ha and Min Jung Kim.

Results:
Women's Singles
Tine BAUN [4] d Petya NEDELCHEVA [15] 21-19 23-21
Wang LIN [7] d Pui Yin YIP [12] 21-13 21-17
Eriko HIROSE [10] d Yihan WANG [1] 20-22 21-16 21-18
Hongyan PI [5] d Moon Hi KIM [16] 16-21 21-15 21-14
Xin WANG [3] d Ai GOTO 21-13 21-13
Saina NEHWAL [2] d Ella DIEHL [13] 21-14 21-18
Shixian WANG [6] D Jie YAO [11] 21-13 21-5

Men's Singles
Dan LIN [3] d Chunlai BAO [10] 21-16 21-13
Jin CHEN [4] d Yong Zhao Ashton CHEN 21-17 21-10
Peter Hoeg GADE [2] d Marc ZWIEBLER [15] 21-14 21-15
Taufik HIDAYAT [5] d Tanongsak SAENSOMBOONSUK 21-8 21-14
Chong Wei LEE [1] d Rajiv OUSEPH 21-9 21-9

File Photograph Copyright: TSC.com