Nehwal suffers 1st round defeat in China Open

Saina made a strong start by winning the first game but went on to lose 21-15- 22-24 15-21 in the women's singles after battling for one hour and one minute. There is no Indian left in the men's singles event as Parupalli Kashyap lost 17-21 16-21 to Japan's Kenichi Tago in 46 minutes in his first round match.

Adding to the disappointment of Indian camp, Ajay Jayaram then lost his men's singles first round match 18-21 19-21 to Hong Kong's Wing Ki Wong. However, Jwala Gutta and V Diju kept the Indian tricolour flying by winning their first round in the mixed doubles.

They defeated Indonesian team of Debby Susanto and Muhammad Rijal 21-17 21-16 in half-an-hour contest. Jwala, teaming up with Ashwini Ponappa, has also advanced to the women's doubles second round after defeating Australia's Leanne Choo and Renuga Veeran 21-15 21-16.

Indian challenge also ended in the men's doubles event following defeat of Rupesh Kumar and Sanave Thomas. They lost 12-21 14-21 to fifth seed Malaysian pair of Kien Keat Koo and  Boon Heong Tan.

RMV Gurusaidutt and Arvind Bhat had lost in the men's singles qualifiers. Gurusaidutt had lost 21-13 16-21 21-23 to China's Yi Lu while Bhat failed to cross the qualifying hurdle after losing 13-21 14-21 to China's Kai Wen.