India Open 2022: Saina Nehwal starts strong, advances to second round

Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal was pushed to the distance in the opening game by Tereza Svabikova but she emerged victorious by 22-20. The Czech Republic player in the second game was forced to withdraw due to an injury.

Saina Nehwal is through to the second round of the ongoing India Open, which is part of the BWF World Tour 500 tournament series, at the KD Jadhav Indoor Hall on Wednesday. The Indian shuttler was pushed to the distance in the opening game by Tereza Svabikova but she emerged victorious by 22-20. The Czech Republic player in the second game was forced to withdraw due to an injury.

On Tuesday (January 12), Kidambi Srikanth registered a convincing victory in his opening round encounter. In men's singles, Siril Verma threatened to take the match to Srikanth by closing the gap at 9-9 following a slow start. But once the world championships silver medallist stepped on the pedal and began controlling the rallies, the result was a foregone conclusion. Srikanth won by 21-17, 21-10.

Srikanth will now face Denmark's Kim Brunn, who defeated India's Subhankar Dey 21-19, 18-21, 21-14 in one hour and 15 minutes.

In another men's singles match Sameer Verma defeated his brother Sourabh Verma 21-7, 21-7.

Earlier, India's Ashmita Chaliha overcame her own anxiety and a late fightback from her opponent to upset fifth seed Evgeniya Kosetskaya of Russia 24-22, 21-16. In the women's doubles first-round encounter, former junior national champions Ritika Thaker and Simran Singh fought back after losing the opening game to beat Mariia Stoliarenko and Yelyzaveta Zharka of Ukraine 14-21, 22-20, 21-19 to advance to the second round.