Star shuttler Kidambi Srikanth led from the front as India thrashed Mauritius 3-0 to advance to the semifinals of badminton mixed team event in the Commonwealth Games here on Saturday.
Srikanth took just 29 minute to beat Georges Julien Paul 21-12, 21-14 in the men's singles after the two doubles pairs had given India a 2-0 lead.
The men's doubles duo of Satwik Rankireddy and Chirag Chandrashekhar Shetty hardly broke a sweat in their 21-12, 21-3 win over Aatish Lubah and Christopher Jean Paul in the first match before Ashwini Pannappa and N Sikki Reddy chalked out an easy 21-8, 21-7 victory over Aurelie Marie Elisa and Nicki Chan-Lam in the women's doubles.
"We have been playing really well throughout the tournament. Going deep into the tournament, everything gets tougher. I think all the other teams, including Malaysia, England and Singapore, are all tough," Srikanth said after his match.
2012 London Olympics medallist Saina Nehwal did not have to play her part in the quarterfinal match as India had already taken a match-winning 3-0 lead.
India will now take on Singapore in the semifinals on Sunday. Singapore had beaten hosts Australia 3-0 in another quarterfinal match.
"I think Singapore have been playing really well, so we cannot rule them out and need to be at our best," he added.
Asked whether, Malaysian great Lee Chong Wei will be his biggest competitor for the men's singles title, Srikanth said, "In the individual event, there are many other contenders. Besides Chong Wei, there is Rajiv Ouseph (of England) and H S Prannoy also. All are playing well.
"I need to be at my best to be able to beat any one of them."
Men's doubles player Chirag Chandrashekhar said, "We have played them (Mauritius players) before, so I think our game went well and we were pretty comfortable in winning the match. It is hopefully good to play some shorter matches and look forward to (the semifinals) on Sunday."
Asked about his partner Satwik Rankireddy, Chirag said, "We have been able to work on a few things. After taking the lead we started to lift a little, so we can refine some of our skills and defensive work. It was a good game for us."
Boxers continue unbeaten run
Indian boxers' rampaging run continued unabated as the veteran duo of L Sarita Devi (60kg) and Manoj Kumar (59kg) advanced to the quarterfinals along with Commonwealth Games debutant Mohammed Hussamuddin (56kg) here on Saturday.
Sarita, who claimed a bronze in the 2014 edition, pummelled Barbados' Kimberely Gittens in her opening clash to make the last-eight stage.
"I really want to go for gold this time. I've been working so hard to get to this stage," Sarita said after her triumph.
In evening session, Hussamuddin, the gold-medallist from India Open, had no trouble in dismantling Vanuatu's Boe Warawara.
The script was similar in the clash between Manoj and Tanzania's Kassim Mbundwike, a bout that the Indian won unanimously. The 31-year-old is in pursuit of his second CWG medal after the gold-winning performance in the 2010 Delhi Games.
On Sunday, M C Mary Kom will open her campaign and a win will assure her of a medal in her debut appearance at the Games.
Mary Kom will be up against Scotland's Megan Gordon and is the favourite to claim the gold medal.
paddlers sail into semis
Indian paddlers continued their impressive run as they outshone Malaysia to cruise into the semifinals of both men's and women' team events on day three of competitions in the Commonwealth Games here on Saturday.
Both the men's and women's teams crushed Malaysia 3-0 in their respective quarterfinal matches at the Oxenford Studios.
In the men's quarterfinal tie, Harmeet Desai started off the proceedings with a comfortable 11-4, 12-10, 11-6 victory over Chee Feng Leong before star paddler Sharath Kamal gave India a 2-0 lead by thrashing Muhammad Ashraf Haiq 11-8, 11-7, 11-6.
The duo of Desai and Sathiyan Gnanasekaran then beat the pairing of Javen Choong and Chee Feng 11-7, 11-6, 11-7 to make it 3-0 in favour of the Indians.
In the women's quarterfinal tie, Manika Batra registered a comfortable 11-9, 11-7, 11-7 win over Ying Ho in the opening match.
In the second singles match, Madhurika Patkar lost the opening game 7-11 against Karen Lyne but fought back to win the next three games 11-9, 11-9, 11-3.
Madhurika then paired with Mouma Das in the doubles to notch up a 11-8, 10-12, 11-8, 11-7 win against the Malaysian duo of Ying Ho and Ai Xin Tee to to wrap up the tie in style.