India Open: SainaNehwal to take on Czech player in 1st round
While Nehwal is ranked 25th, the little-known Svabikova is placed 117. In another encounter, HS Prannoy will clash with Spanish Pablo Abian, Ajay Jayaram will lock horns with Irish badminton player Nhat Nguyen and Lakshya Sen will fight it out against Egyptian Adham Hatem Elgamal in the first round of men's singles.
Other players who will be participating in doubles matches include Ashwini Ponnappa, N Sikki Reddy, SatwiksairajRankireddy, and Chirag Shetty.
Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu defeated compatriot Sri Krishna Priya in straight games to enter the second round of the Women's Singles event. In Men's Singles, World Championship silver medallistKidambi Srikanth triumphed over SirilVerma in the first round. He will take on Denmark's Kim Bruun.
Among other winners of the day who progressed to the next round of the tournament include, double's pair RitikaThaker and Simran Singh, mixed doubles pairings of DhruvKapila and N Sikki Reddy, and Gayatri Gopichand Pullela and Sai Pratheek K. The men’s doubles top seeds Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan of Indonesia also got their campaign off to a winning start.