Saina Nehwal
Saina Nehwal lost against Li Xuerui in the opening match of the semifinals against China.IANS

Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu played brilliantly to emerge victorious in their respective first round matches in the ongoing Malaysia Open, Wednesday. However, Indian male shuttlers -- Kidambi Srikanth HS Prannoy and Ajay Jayaram -- once again disappointed with a below par performance, losing in their respective matches in the first round.

Saina, who lost in the semifinals of the India Open last week, played superb badminton against Nitchaon Jindapol, defeating her in straight games, score reading 21-16, 21-7.

Though Jindapol might have played decently against Saina in the opening game, the India star looked in full control of the match during the second set, playing those exquisite drop shots, and smashes, to help her reach the second round of the Malaysia Open.

Sindhu, on the other hand, was made to work hard by her opponent He Bingjiao in an entertaining encounter. Sindhu defeated Bingjiao in straight games, 21-16, 21-17, but it was by no means an easy encounter for the India shuttler.

With this victory, Sindhu is set to face a tough opponent in the form of Sung Ji Hyun, while Saina will face Bae Yeon Ju in the second round.

The performance of the men's shuttlers brought utter disappointment, especially Srikanth, who was dumped out of the first round in the India Open, lost to Thailand's Boonsak Ponsana in a three game affair. The score  read 23-21, 9-21, 21-10.

However, one needs to give credit to the other India shuttler, Prannoy, who played some quality badminton to make India Open champion Kento Momota sweat in the first round. Though Momota lost in straight games, Prannoy fought in both the the games. The score read 21-19, 22-20.

Jayaram lost against Hu Yun, score reading 21-17, 21-14.