Double Olympic medallist PV Sindhu, who is returning from an ankle injury, begins her campaign against former World Champion Carolina Marin of Spain in the first round of Malaysia Open.
Jia Min was happy to execute her plan but acknowledged that her opponent was not at her best shape.
Earlier, the women's doubles pair of Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy suffered their second successive loss in the event, going down fighting 19-21, 20-22 to Bulgaria's Gabriela Stoeva and Stefani Stoeva to bow out of contention.
This is Saina's first win over the South Korean, who got the better of the Indian in the quarter-finals of the French Open last year.
HS Prannoy breezed into the quarter-finals with a stunning straight-game win over former world champion Loh Kean Yew of Singapore but it was curtains for Kidambi Srikanth at the Japan Open Super 750 tournament.
Seventh seed Sindhu lost 14-21 18-21 to Bing Jiao in the women's singles.
India's campaign at the BWF World Tour Super 300 tournament ends after Srikanth, Prannoy and Verma were knocked out earlier in the day.
HS Prannoy went down fighting to World No 7 Japanese Kodai Naraoka in a thrilling quarter-final at the Malaysia Open Super 750 badminton tournament.
Lakshya Sen continued his rich vein of form as he sent the world No. 1 and top-seed Axelsen packing
Following is India's schedule at the Asian Games in Hangzhou on Wednesday, October 4.
This was Sameer's fifth loss to Lee in seven meetings.
Srikanth made an attacking start after the change of ends, putting his smashes to good use, to lead 5-1. Two tight smashes on either side helped the Indian to maintain his lead to 8-3 before he entered the break with a healthy seven-point advantage when Axelsen went to the net.
Lakshya Sen said the win against reigning All England Champion Li Shi Feng gives him confidence and belief in the Olympic qualification year.
The Indian men's badminton team scripted a memorable 3-2 win over Malaysia to enter the semifinals of Thomas Cup for the first time in 43 years
Reigning World champion P V Sindhu and B Sai Praneeth were handed easy group stage outings in the badminton draws unveiled on Thursday for the Tokyo Olympics, starting on July 23.
India's badminton ace P V Sindhu entered the summit clash of BWF World Tour Finals with a hard fought win over Akane Yamaguchi of Japan in the semi-finals, in Bali, on Saturday.
Srikanth made a good start in the second game, moving to 7-3 advantage but Lee once again turned the tables, jumping to 13-9 and kept his nose ahead to eventually shut the doors on the Indian.
Expectations from the Indian male shuttlers will also be high, given their exploits in recent months.
The 28-year-old from Kerala had spent two weeks stressing over his physical and mental health after contracting COVID-19 last November.
Satwik and Ashwini, who reached the semi-finals at Toyota Thailand Open Super 1000 in January, will meet the winner of the match between fifth-seeded Malaysians Tan Kian Meng and Lai Pei Jing and Germany's Jones Ralfy Jansen and Kilasu Ostermeyer.
World Championships bronze medallist Sen had earlier advanced to the men's singles semi-finals after his opponent Lu Guang Zu of China gave a walkover.
Saina and Busanan engaged in some long rallies but it was the Thai shuttler who had the last laugh
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday
On Saturday, Sen had become only the fifth Indian after Prakash Nath (1947), Prakash Padukone (1980, 1981), Pullela Gopichand (2001) and Saina Nehwal (2015) to reach the final of the prestigious tournament after outwitting defending champion Lee Zii Jia in a gruelling semi-final.
Verma who had shocked Malaysia's eighth seed Lee Zii Jia in the opening round, needed just 39 minutes to see off Gemke
Now all eyes are on the two Super 1000 events -- Yonex Thailand Open (January 12-17) and Toyota Thailand Open (January 19-24) as the world's best return to action following a prolonged break.
Sen became only the third men's singles player after Prakash Padukone and Pullela Gopichand to reach the final
Star shuttlers, including P V Sindhu, will chase individual gold medals but doubles would also under the spotlight as India would aim to retain the mixed team title and continue their consistent run at the Commonwealth Games.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Tuesday