Saina Nehwal fights her way to Macau Open badminton second round

India’s Saina Nehwal struggled her way to the second round of the $120,000 Macau Open Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament, defeating Hanna Ramadini of Indonesia 21-23, 21-14, 21-18 in one hour three minutes.

India’s Saina Nehwal struggled her way to the second round of the $120,000 Macau Open Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament on Wednesday. Nehwal, who recovered from a knee surgery which affected her Olympic campaign three months back, defeated Hanna Ramadini of Indonesia 21-23, 21-14, 21-18 in one hour three minutes.

India’s Saina Nehwal defeated Hanna Ramadini of Indonesia 21-23, 21-14, 21-18 in 63 minutes at the Macau Open badminton tournament. (PTI)

Nehwal lost a tight first game against the world No. 44 before wrapping up the win. She will take on Dinar Dyah Ayustine in the second round.

The London bronze-medallist made a comeback at China Open but lost in the opening round and slipped five places to world No. 11. She competed at the Hong Kong Open before losing closely in the quarterfinals.

Earlier, Parupalli Kashyap and the team of Manu Attri and Sumeeth Reddy moved into the tournament’s third round while Sameer Verma crashed out.