Saina wins second outing to keep hopes alive

Saina Nehwal shrugged off the disappointment of losing her opening match her at the World Super Series Badminton Masters finals with a thumping straight games victory over fourth seed Hongyan Pi of France in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia, on Friday.

The world No 10 Indian beat the Frenchwoman, ranked three notches higher than her, 21-18, 21-13 in a 34-minute contest to keep her hopes of advancing to the semi-finals alive.

The 18-year-old Indian national champion next faces world No 11 Mew Choo Wong of Malaysia later on Friday.