Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal [ Images ] came from behind to notch a hard-fought victory over Juan Gu of Singapore in a first round match at the Malaysian Open Super Series, in Kuala Lumpur, on Wednesday.

The fourth seed won 19-21, 21-14, 21-15, in 56 minutes.

Saina next meets Shao Chieh Cheng of Chinese Taipei, who she recently defeated in the Korea Open Super Series.

In the mixed doubles, V Diju and Jwala Gutta [ Images ] also faced a stiff challenge before getting the better of Chayut Triyachart and Lei Yao of Singapore 21-13, 19-21, 21-16 in 40 minutes.

Jwala-Diju will meet the Malaysian pair of Peng Soon Chan and Liu Ying Goh in the second round.

However, the Indian men's doubles pair of Rupesh Kumar [ Images ] and Sanave Thomas [ Images ] could not overcome the first round hurdle, as they proved no match for fourth seeds Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong of Malaysia, going down 14-21, 13-21 in 27 minutes.

In the men's singles, World Championships quarter-finalist Ajay Jayaram conceded the advantage of winning the first game and went down 21-9, 18-21, 16-21 to Simon Santoso of Indonesia, in a little less than an hour.

The Indian completely outplayed his seventh seed opponent in the opening game, winning it comfortably, but he failed to maintain his rhythm.