After suffering an early elimination in the recently concluded Thaihot China Open in the hands of Porntip Buranaprasertsuk of Thailand,  India's highest female badminton player Saina Nehwal got even with the Thai shuttler and successfully avenged her stunning  first round  loss a week ago in Fuzhou.

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According to the match result in the official website of the BWF, Nehwal scored a hard-earned 12-21, 21-19, 21-17 win over the current world No. 12 Thai badminton ace in the opening round of the ongoing Yonex Sunrise Hong Kong Open on Wednesday in Kowloon. The opener lasted for 56 minutes before the 26-year-old native of Hisar, Haryana, wrapped up the match and secured her ticket for the next stage of the USD 400,000 event.

Nehwal, who entered the tournament as the fifth seeded player in the women's singles event, was defeated by the 25 -year-old Buranaprasertsuk in her first major tournament appearance following her right knee injury that prevented her from competing for three long months. The Indian shuttler crashes out of the China Open after a grueling three-set defeat that lasted for almost an hour.

With her recent victory, Nehwal has prevailed over Buranaprasertsuk for the eighth occasions after nine official meetings. It also marked the current world No. 6 player's first triumph after her unsuccessful campaign in the Rio Olympic Games last August.

It also boosted Nehwal's chance of claiming her second Hong Kong Open title. She last won the Hong Kong-based World Superseries event six years ago after she defeated Wang Shixian of China in three sets.

According to Hindustan Times, Nehwal is in the lower half of the draw and a possible showdown against the newly crowned China Open champion and compatriot PV Sindhu could happen if she makes it through the quarterfinal round. Sindhu will kick off her Hong Kong Open campaign with a first round match against Susanto Yulia Yosephin of Indonesia.

Nehwal and Sindhu are India's top badminton competitors. Both players have won Olympic medals for their motherland: Newhal bagged the bronze in London, while Sindhu taking the silver in Rio.

Tagssaina nehwal, pv sindhu, hong kong open, bwf rankings, BWF World Superseries, bwf