Japan’s Nozomi Okuhara defeated world No. 2 Saina, who seemed to struggle with her ankle injury, 21-14, 21-6 in women’s singles.
The World Championship silver medallist will play world No. 1 Carolina Marin in another Group A match on Thursday.
Srikanth, the world No. 9, suffered a 13-21, 13-21 loss at the hands of Japan’s Kento Momota in a men’s singles Group B clash. The Indian will next face Viktor Axelsen of Denmark.
Saina, who came into the match with a 4-0 record against Okuhara, could not play her best as the injury restricted her movement. Okuhara zoomed to a 5-1 lead early on but Saina soon engaged her rival in long rallies and clawed back to make it 8-8. Saina grabbed the lead when Okuhara hit wide but the latter caught the Indian at the forecourt and then, with a smash, moved into the break, up 11-10.
Saina stumbled on a few unforced errors after the break which allowed Okuhara to take a 17-12 lead. Saina then won two points before a net error and cross court drop at the left took the Japanese to game point which she pocketed.
The change of side didn’t change Saina’s fortune as Okuhara zoomed to a 11-3 lead in a jiffy. Okuhara continued her good work after the breather even as Saina was left frustrated as she hit wide and long and found the net to allow the opponent to win 10 of the next 14 points.
In men’s singles, Srikanth looked a pale shadow of himself while Momota played an aggressive game and fortified his defence to dominate the match completely.
A tiny 3-1 initial lead was all Srikanth could manage as Momota zoomed to 7-3 before entering the break at 11-8. The Japanese jumped to a 16-8 lead soon after and continued to amass points without much trouble.
