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

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

Updated: 09 March 2017 00:18 IST - Published: 08 March 2017 23:20 IST

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.