India Open: Saina Nehwal, HS Pranooy And Lakshya Sen Advance To Second Round

India Open: Top Indian shuttlers Saina Nehwal, Lakshya Sen and HS Prannoy progressed to the second round of the tournament with contrasting wins here on Wednesday.

Top Indian shuttlers Saina Nehwal, Lakshya Sen and HS Prannoy progressed to the second round of the India Open with contrasting wins here on Wednesday. Former world no. 1 Saina, who missed a lot of tournaments last year due to multiple injuries, 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.

Saina, seeded fourth, 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, a former world top 10 player, got the better of Spain's Pablo Abian 21-14 21-7 and will next face Mithun Manjunath, who eked out a hard-fought 21-16 15-21 21-10 victory over France's Arnaud Merkle.

Third seed Sen, who claimed the world championships bronze on debut last month, thrashed Egypt's Adham Hatem Elgamal 21-15 21-7 to set up a face-off with Sweden's Felix Burestedt.