Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, Aug 23: At the BWF World Championships 2022 in Tokyo, Japan, former champion Saina Nehwal displayed early signs of regaining her mojo by defeating Hong Kong’s Cheung Ngan Yi in the women’s singles opening round.
Saina Nehwal defeated Cheung Ngan Yi 21-19, 21-9 in just 38 minutes to advance to the second round of the renowned global tournament. Nozomi Okuhara of Japan, Saina’s opponent in the second round and the sixth seed, withdrew from the competition, giving Saina a bye to the third round.
Saina will compete against the winner of the second-round contest between German Yvonne Li and Thailand’s Busanan Ongbamrungphan, the 12th seed.
Saina was at her best since she consistently outplayed Cheung in the two games. Saina received assistance from the sidelines as she dominated the rallies thanks to her former Commonwealth Games champion husband, Parupalli Kashyap, taking up the coaching responsibilities.
As she sailed to the finish line, Saina was moving with ease on the court and appeared sharper than she had earlier in the season.
Saina Nehwal, who did not participate in the Olympic and Commonwealth Games campaigns, will benefit greatly from a strong performance in Tokyo. The bronze medallist from the London Olympics was in excellent shape leading up to the Worlds after reaching the quarterfinals of the Singapore Open.
Young Malavika Bansod was eliminated in the first round of the women’s singles competition at the world championships, leaving only Saina representing India. The 2019 winner, PV Sindhu, decided not to compete because of an injury she sustained during her gold-medal winning performance at the Commonwealth Games.
Gayatri Gopichand and Jolly Treesa of India won their opening round match against Low Yeen Yuan and Valeree Siow 21-11, 21-13 earlier in the day.
