All England Open: Saina Nehwal vs Nozomi Okuhara First Round Live Match Updates and Commentary

That wraps up our liveblog of the All England Championships for the day. Hope you enjoyed it. Do join us for the second round tomorrow. Goodnight!

That was a commanding performance from the 2015 runner-up over the defending champion! That was definitely some statement. And with that, the top two Indian shuttle queens bring double delight on International Women's Day!

And Saina Nehwal WINS 21-15, 21-14 to enter the second round!

A determined Okuhara is finding the lines and takes 4 points in a row to reduce the gap to 14-19.

Nehwal is moving brilliantly and is now at 19-10.

It is a big 18-9 lead for Saina now.

Okuhara is clearly rusty after her shoulder injury and errors are currently coming thick and fast. Saina now leads 16-8.

It is all going Saina's way at the moment and she is now up 14-8.

Nehwal has now cruised to 13-6 after the break.

Saina takes an 11-5 lead at half-time.

It is 10-5 for the Indian now.

Nehwal's retrieval skills are looking very, very good at the moment and she has built up an 8-4 lead in Game 2.

Okuhara is testing Saina's defense but she herself makes a couple of errors to let the Indian go up to 5-3.

GAME 2

The two are evenly tied at 2-2 in the initial stages.

Nehwal wins the first game 21-15.

And Saina staves off the Okuhara challenge to reach game points at 20-15.

The defending champion is fighting back and not letting Saina run away with the game. It is now 17-15 for Nehwal.

The Malaysia Masters champion is now steadily extending her lead once more and is now at 16-12.

The defending champion takes a couple of points to reduce the deficit to 11-13.

Saina still maintains the 4-point lead and is now 13-9 after the break.

At half-time, Saina leads 11-7.

Okuhara is trying to make a comeback here and closes the gap to 7-10.

It is a big 10-5 advantage for the former World No. 1 now.

Saina continues her effortless shotmaking and now leads 8-3.

The match has just begun and it is Saina who is in total control. She leads 5-1.

Good evening and welcome to the Sportskeeda liveblog of Saina Nehwal's first round match at the prestigious All England Championships. The 2015 runner-up faces the defending champion and World No. 11 Nozomi Okuhara in a blockbuster opener.

The Japanese is returning from a shoulder injury, so there should be some rustiness. But she can definitely make it difficult for the Indian.

Earlier in the day, PV Sindhu made a blazing start to her campaign and HS Prannoy came from behind in a stunning show of resilience.

All England Open: Saina Nehwal vs Nozomi Okuhara First Round Live Match Updates and Commentary

Saina Nehwal beats Nozomi Okuhara 21-15, 21-14.