Saina enters second round of Malaysian Open

Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal came from behind to notch a hard-fought victory over Juan Gu of Singapore in a first round match at the Malaysian Open Super Series, in Kuala Lumpur, on Wednesday.

The fourth seed won 19-21, 21-14, 21-15, in 56 minutes.

Saina next meets Shao Chieh Cheng of Chinese Taipei, who she recently defeated in the Korea Open Super Series.

In the mixed doubles, V Diju and Jwala Gutta also faced a stiff challenge before getting the better of Chayut Triyachart and Lei Yao of Singapore 21-13, 19-21, 21-16 in 40 minutes.

Jwala-Diju will meet the Malaysian pair of Peng Soon Chan and Liu Ying Goh in the second round.

However, the Indian men's doubles pair of Rupesh Kumar and Sanave Thomas could not overcome the first round hurdle, as they proved no match for fourth seeds Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong of Malaysia, going down 14-21, 13-21 in 27 minutes.

In the men's singles, World Championships quarter-finalist Ajay Jayaram conceded the advantage of winning the first game and went down 21-9, 18-21, 16-21 to Simon Santoso of Indonesia, in a little less than an hour.

The Indian completely outplayed his seventh seed opponent in the opening game, winning it comfortably, but he failed to maintain his rhythm.