Saina Nehwal [ Images ] beat Ayane Kurihara of Japan [ Images ] to storm into the quarter-finals of the Malaysia Open Grand Prix [ Images ] Gold badminton tournament at Alor Setar on Thursday.

The top seeded Indian ace had an easy outing, winning 21-14, 21-17.

She will now take on Chinese qualifier Wang Lin, who upset another Japanese, seeded-sixth Eriko Hirose, 21-11, 21-15.

Saina had a forgettable last week as she was handed a shock first-round defeat in the India [ Images ] Open Super Series.