Earlier, PV Sindhu, Kidambi Srikanth and Sameer Verma had reached the second round on Tuesday.
Day 2 of the India Open 2022 in New Delhi on Wednesday saw top Indian shuttlers Saina Nehwal, Lakshya Sen and HS Prannoy progress to the second round. Earlier, PV Sindhu, Kidambi Srikanth and Sameer Verma had reached the second round on Tuesday.
About Saina, the former world no. 1 had missed a lot of tournaments last year due to multiple injuries, however, she moved to the second round after her opponent Czech Republic's Tereza Svabikova suffered a back injury and retired mid-way while lagging 20-22 0-1 in the opening round match.
"Playing after so long gives you the match confidence, how to pull out those points, because in practice you don't have the privilege to play points with the same intensity as you do in tournaments. The quality of some of the points I got today...I hope it somehow helps me tomorrow," Saina said after her match.
The fourth-seeded Saina will next meet compatriot Malvika Bansod, who defeated fellow Indian Samiya Imad Farooqui 21-18 21-9 in another women's singles match.
In men's singles, eighth seed Prannoy got the better of Spain's Pablo Abian 21-14 21-7 and will next face Mithun Manjunath, who had eked out a hard-fought 21-16 15-21 21-10 victory over France's Arnaud Merkle.
Young lad Sen, who had claimed the world championships bronze on debut last month, went on to thrash Egypt's Adham Hatem Elgamal 21-15 21-7 to set up a face-off with Sweden's Felix Burestedt.
In the doubles category, Commonwealth Games bronze medallists Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy also entered the second round after prevailing 21-7 19-21 21-13 over compatriots Janani Ananthakumar and Divya R.Balasubramanian.
Among other Indians, Aakarshi Kashyap beat compatriot Anura Prabhudesai 21-14 21-14, while Rahul Yadav Chittaboina got a walkover after Spain's Luís Enrique Penalver's withdrawal.
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 "HS Prannoy and Saina Nehwal")
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