Arun’s blog

Day one of the 2008 Beijing Olympics left much to be desired from the Indian contingent. However, India started Day 2 on a winning note on with Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal continuing her winning run in the singles of the women’s badminton event.

Saina Nehwal advances to pre-quarterfinals of women’s singles event at the Beijing Olympics, beating Ukraine’s Larysa Gryga 21-18 21-10 21-18 21-10 to make the last 16. She would now be up against the winner of the match between world number three Hong Kong’s Chen Wang and Slovakia’s Eva Sladekova.

Unlike the easy first-round win, the national champion was up for a tough challenge today and the first game went neck-and-neck before Saina edged past to grab the lead.

The Indian seemed more at ease with the hot and humid conditions in the Chinese capital compared to Gryga, who found it tough to maintain her energy levels in the second game and gave up rather timidly.