Jakarta, Jan 23 : Eighth seeded Saina Nehwal thrashed Dinar Dyah Ayustine to advance in the second round of the opening hurdle at the USD 350,000 Indonesia Masters on Wednesday.
It was Saina’s third win over Ayustine.
Saina recovered from a first-game loss to secure a 7-21 21-16 21-11 win over local hope Ayustine, ranked 50th.
She will next face another Indonesian Fitriani Fitriani, against whom she has a 4-0 head-to-head record.
Meanwhile, In the men’s singles, Olympic champion Chen Long of China defeated Praneeth in just 40 minutes by 12-21 16-21, While Subhankar fought hard before going down 14-21 21-19 15-21 against former World champion Viktor Axelsen of Denmark.
In the men's doubles, National champions Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy also dished out a fighting game to notch up a 14-21 21-19 21-15 win over Denmark’s Mads Pieler Kolding and Niclas Nohr, while Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy bowed out after losing 14-21 14-21 to Thailand’s Jongkolphan Kititharakul and Rawinda Prajongjai in the women’s doubles opener. (UNI)