TOP SEED SAINA NEHWAL began the first international tournament of the year with a win as she defeated Chasinee Korepap 21-9, 21-8 in the first round of Malaysia Grand Prix Gold.
She will look to clinch this title and begin 2017 on a high note and do stand a chance because no other top shuttler is participating in the tournament.
She will next play Hanna Ramadini (Unseeded) in round two.
It was a positive outing for men's singles shuttler Ajay Jayaram too. The sixth seed first defeated Jun Hao Leong 21-10, 17-21, 21-14 while he trumped Saputra Vicky Angga in straight games 21-9, 21-12. His next opponent is Hsueh Hsuan Yi.
While Pratul Joshi won the first match but was facing Tommy Sugiarto in the second. He gave a good fight to the 7th seed in the second game but the Indonesian won 21-9, 29-27.
In the women's doubles, Aparna Balan/Prajakta Sawant defeated Aghisna Fathkul Laili/Aprilsasi Putri Lejarsar Variella with ease 21-10, 21-11. The mixed doubles duo of Jwala Gutta/Manu Attri too had good outing, defeated Lukhi Apri Nugroho/Ririn Amelia 21-19, 21-18. Men's doubles duo of Manu Attri/Sumeeth Reddy defeated Jia Huo Chen/Chun Kang Shia 15-21, 21-13, 21-18 while Arjun MR/Shlok Ramachandran had an easy win over Ayub Azriyn/Jagdish Singh 21-19, 21-12.