India's badminton star Saina Nehwal warded off a first round challenge to start her women's singles campaign on a positive note. On Tuesday, Nehwal defeated an aggressive Pai Yu Po of China in the ongoing BCA Indonesia Open 2016 badminton tournament in Jakarta.

Nehwal, a finalist in the 2015 World Championships, wrapped up the match in one hour and three minutes with a 21-11, 19-21, 21-15 victory at the Istola Galera Bung Karno Stadium. Her victory came after the 23-year-old Taiwanese won the second set to force a final and deciding game.

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26-year-old Nehwal entered the US$900,000 badminton event as an eight seeded shuttler.  With the win, the current BWF's world No. 8 advances to the second round of the competition. She is scheduled to face 17-year-old Fitriani Fitriani of Indonesia.

Nehwal is looking to win her fourth BCA Indonesia Open title of her career. The two-time Asian Championship bronze medalist had conquered the BWF Super Series Premier Jakarta-based badminton competition in 2009, 2010 and 2012.

Meanwhile, in the mixed doubles event, the Indian pair of Manu Attri and Ashwini  Ponnappa lost to Yong Kai Terry Hee and Wei Han Tan of Singapore in a 30 minutes match. The Indians succumbed to a straight 14-21, 25-27 defeat.

The top seeded Chinese pair of Zhang Nan and Zhao Yunlei defeated the Malaysian tandem of Peng Soon Chan and Liu Ying Goh with a 21-18, 21-17 win. Other Chinese combos of Xu Chen and Ma Jin, Liu Yuchen and Tang Jinhua and Lu Kai and Huang Yaqiong have also been victorious against their respective opponents.

Tagsbwf, bwf rankings, bca indonesia open 2016, saina nehwal, Pai Yu Po