Saina enters third round at Worlds

India's best bet at the World Badminton Championships, Saina Nehwal proceeded to the women's singles third round after notching up an easy straight games win at the 9,200-seater Ballerup Super Arena here Tuesday.

After receiving a first round bye, the seventh-seeded Indian needed only 31 minutes to beat Russian Natalia Perminova 21-11, 21-9 in the second round to take an unbeaten 2-0 record in career meetings.

The Olympic bronze medallist totally dominated the first game and then won nine consecutive points at the start of the second to take a massive 10-1 lead. It was too much to ask for the World No.44 Russian to overcome the deficit and the Hyderabadi kept winning points to enter the pre-quarterfinals.

Saina will next take on the winner of the match between Japanese 13th seed Sayaka Takahashi and Bulgaria's Petya Nedelcheva.

Meanwhile, Mumbai's Ajay Jayaram, who is making a comeback to the circuit for the first time since January, advanced to the men's singles second round as Japanese fourth seed Kenichi Tago had pulled out before the event had started.

Jayaram will next face Thai Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk in his first competitive match in seven months.

Later, German sixth seeds Michael Fuchs and Birgit Michels made short work of Kerala mixed doubles combine Arun Vishnu and Aparna Balan in only 33 minutes. Fuchs and Michels defeated the Indian pair 21-14, 21-11 in the second round.

Elsewhere, Thai pair Puttita Supajirakul and Sapsiree Taerattanachai also got a walkover as Indians Prajakta Sawant and Arathi Sara Sunil pulled out of the tourney.

Kidambi Srikanth (men's singles) and Manu Attri and B. Sumeeth Reddy (men's doubles) will play their respective matches later in the day.