Saina advances at China Open

Star Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal defeated the United States' Beiwen Zhang to advance to the second round of the China Open World Superseries Premier here on Wednesday.

The Hyderabadi shuttler defeated Zhang 21-12, 21-13 in a match which lasted around 30 minutes.

In both the games, Saina displayed her class and temperament to overpower her opponent in straight sets.

In the men's singles category, Sourabh Verma bowed out of the prestigious meet after going down to Brice Leverdez of France.

In a marathon match of 55 minutes, the Frenchman edged past Verma 21-14, 15-21, 21-11.

In the women's doubles category, it was the end of the road for India. Ashwini Ponnappa and N. Sikki Reddy lost their first match to South Korea's Ha Na Baek and Chae Yoo Jung 14-21, 15-21.

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty also crashed out of the meet. They lost to Liu Cheng and Zhand Nan of China 13-21, 13-21 in the men's doubles match.

--IANS

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