Shuttler Saina advances at Thailand Open

Bangkok May 31 (IANS) Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal advanced to the second round of the Thailand Open after defeating Slovakia s Martina Repiska at the Nimibutr Stadium here on Wednesday.

It was a cakewalk for Saina who outplayed her opponent 21-5 21-10 in a match which lasted around 25 minutes.

In the other match Rituparna Das was beaten by top seed Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand 21-19 21-18 in straight sets and failed to enter the second round of the prestigious tournament.

In mens singles category Parupalli Kashyap bowed out of the tournament after going down to second seed Marc Zwiebler 21-14 21-18 while Saurabh Verma made it to the second round defeating compatriot Anand Panwar in a gruelling encounter.

Verma edged past Panwar 21-17 20-22 21-14 in 60 minutes to advance.

Third seed B.Sai Parneeth also entered the second round. The Indian shuttler defeated Malaysia s R. Satheishtharan 21-15 21-13.

--IANS
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