New Delhi, Sep 15 (IANS) India's badminton star Saina Nehwal overcame mid-match jitters to eke out a stiff 21-11, 18-21, 27-25 victory over Japan's Ayane Kurihara and entered the women's singles quarterfinals of the China Masters Super Series badminton tournament in Changzhou Thursday.

It took fifth-seeded Indian one hour and 12 minutes to stave off the challenge of the unseeded Japanese girl.

Saina next plays top seed Yihan Wang of China Friday.

In the mixed doubles, the Indian pair of Jwala Gutta and V. Diju also reached the quarterfinals. They defeated South Korea's Yong Dae Lee and Jung Eun Ha 21-19, 21-17.

They now play Robert Blair of Scotland and Gabrielle White of England.

In the men's singles, Parupalli Kashyap went down in straight sets to Peter Gade of Germany 18-21, 15-21 in the second round.

In the men's doubles, Rupesh Kumar and Sanave Thomas also lost in the second round 13-21, 9-21 to fourth seeds Sung Hyun Ko and Yeon Seong Yoo of Korea.