New Delhi: Former champion Saina Nehwal, world championships bronze medallist Lakshya Sen and comeback man HS Prannoy registered contrasting wins to progress to the second round of the India Open here on Wednesday.
Commonwealth Games silver medallists Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty also made winning starts to their men's doubles campaign.
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.
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"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, who is seeded fourth, will meet compatriot Malvika Bansod, who defeated fellow Indian Samiya Imad Farooqui 21-18 21-9 in another match.
The left-handed Nagpur shuttler had recently won the All India Senior ranking meet in Hyderabad.
"I am really excited to play against Saina as it will be my first encounter with her, so really hoping to play well," said Malvika, who had been part of India's campaign at the Sudirman Cup and Thomas and Uber Cup Finals last year.
On a comeback trail, Prannoy, a former world top 10 player, who had made it to the quarterfinals at the world championships, got the better of Spain's Pablo Abian 21-14 21-7 and will next face Mithun Manjunath.
Manjunath eked out a hard-fought 21-16 15-21 21-10 victory over France's Arnaud Merkle.