Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal survived a scare from lower-ranked Sapsiree Taerattanachai of Thailand before reaching the second round of the All England Championship in Birmingham.
Saina Nehwal was the lone Indian left in the Australian Open Super Series badminton tournament after a hard-fought victory over China's Sun Yu in Sydney on Thursday. The world No 1 overcame a stiff challenge from Yu, ranked No 9, winning 21-19, 19-21, 21-14 in 78 minutes.
Commonwealth Games silver medallist Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa suffered a loss in the second round, going down fighting 23-21, 8-21, 17-21 to sixth seeded Indonesian pair of Nitya Krishinda Maheswari and Greysia Polii.
Defending champion Saina Nehwal and two-time World Championships bronze medallist P V Sindhu advanced to the quarter-finals, but it turned out to be a dismal day for star shuttlers Lin Dan and Lee Chong Wei at the India Open Super Series in Delhi on Thursday.
Indian women's badminton team scripted history as they reached the semi-finals of the Uber Cup tournament for the first time with a dominating 3-0 victory over Indonesia in the quarter-finals at the Siri Fort Sports complex.