Saina Nehwal Breezes Through First Round of Thailand Open

Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal defeated Kisona Selvaduray in the first round of the Thailand Open. She successfully dominated the match by scoring an impressive 21-15 against the Malaysian shuttler. Nehwal was able to maintain her stance from the very beginning of the game. In the second set of the game, she again finished at 21-15 against her opponent. She tweeted about her victory and posted a picture of herself on her Twitter handle.

Good first round win today at Thailand open 2021 👍.. against kisona selvaduray from Malaysia .. 21-15 21-15 🙏🙏.. Was so good to wear all white attire thank u so much @YonexInd @yonex_jp @yonex_badminton for the lovely clothing ❣️❣️ pic.twitter.com/j4CWiz8zgx

— Saina Nehwal (@NSaina) January 13, 2021

The player will now be battling against Thailand's shuttler Busanan Ongbamrungphan in the pre-quarterfinals match on Thursday. On the other hand, PV Sindhu made an early exit from the tournament.

How Did Other Badminton Players Fare?

There were other Indian shuttlers who emerged victorious in the match. In the men's singles, Kidambi Srikanth defeated Sourabh Verma by scoring 21-12, 21-11 in the first and second sets respectively. HS Prannoy was defeated by Malaysian shuttler Zii Jia Lee in the first round. Saina's husband Parupalli Kashyap too was defeated in the third set of match against Canadian player Jason Anthony Ho-Shue.

In the men's doubles, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty managed to knock out South Korean shuttlers Kim Gi Jung and Lee Yong Dae 19-21 21-16 21-14.

Arjun Madathil Ramachandran and Dhruv Kapila failed to win against the Malaysian duo Malaysia's Ong Yew Sin and Teo Ee Yi.

Saina Nehwal, HS Prannoy Had Previously Tested Positive For COVID-19

Saina Nehwal's victory comes a day after she was almost expelled from the tournament. She had tested positive for COVID-19 along with Parupalli Kashyap and HS Prannoy. However, the BAI officials intervened on time and ensured that they were in the safe zone. Another round of testing confirmed that the players were out of danger.