Indonesia Open: Saina cruises past Ayustine to 2nd round

Former World No. 1 Saina Nehwal swatted aside her Indonesian opponent Dinar Dyah Ayustine with a victory in straight sets to book her place in the second round of the ongoing Indonesian Open 2018.

Nehwal registered a 21-12, 21-12 score over the currently 54th ranked Indonesian, wrapping up the match in just 35 minutes.

The two-time Commonwealth Games Gold medalist raced out of the blocks in the starting of the first game, going up to a 7-2 lead early on. After fending off some resistance from Ayustine, who fought back to get the score at 7-6, Saina soon raced to a 17-9 scoreline to grab the first game by the scruff of the neck.

Ayustine couldn't offer any more of a challenge in the second game than she did in the first, with the ace Indian shuttler booking her place in the next round by emphatically dispatching her opponent.

The Olympic silver medallist joins compatriot HS Prannoy, who beat legendary Chinese player Lin Dan in the first round of the men's singles event, to book his place in the second round.

Meanwhile, Sameer Verma also won his opening round in the tournament defeating Rasmus Gemke of Denmark 21-9, 12-21, 22-20.

B. Sai Praneeth, on the other hand, lost to his Taiwanese opponent Wang Tzu-Wei 10-21, 13-21 in straight sets.