China Open 2018: Saina Nehwal vs Sung Ji Hyun First Round, Live Score and Match Updates

Sung def Nehwal 20-22, 21-8, 21-14 to enter R2

Updated: 18 September 2018 12:49 IST - Published: 18 September 2018 11:20 IST

And that wraps up our live coverage of the China Open 2018 for today.

Do join us tomorrow as we bring you more live updates from this Super 1000 tournament.

Goodbye!

Saina could not keep up with Sung after winning the close first game. Sung's defence was clearly better and her energy level too was much higher than Saina's.

Granted that the Korean was always supposed to be a tough and feisty opponent, the scoreline in the second and the third games will disappoint the Indian. She indeed has a lot of hard work to do, if she wants to stay in rallies.

It took Sung 48 minutes to complete the win.

Final score: Sung def Nehwal 20-22, 21-8, 21-14

AND SUNG JI HYUN HAS KNOCKED OUT SAINA NEHWAL IN THE FIRST ROUND!

Yet another for Saina!

14-19

Saina claims THREE MORE POINTS!!!!

CAN SHE KEEP IT GOING?

TRAILS 13-19 NOW

It's 17-10 for Sung now

It's 15-9 now for Sung

Saina is getting a couple of points back but hasn't been able to inflict much damage on the Korean.

One point for Saina now.

7-14

Sung is running away with the game post the break.

Up 14-6 now

11-6 for Sung at the mid-game interval

2 more points go Saina's way!

6-9

Can she keep fighting back?

And it is 9-4 now for Sung after Saina fought back to take 2 points.

The pace of the match has slowed down but that hasn't bothered Sung one bit.

She still has a healthy lead over Saina.

7-3

And 5-2 now

The Korean seems to have picked up from where she left

It's 4-1 for Sung in the third game!

The Korean has completely outplayed Nehwal in the second game.

And Sung has taken the second game 21-8

12 GAME POINTS FOR SUNG NOW.

20-8

THIS IS TOTAL ONE-WAY TRAFFIC NOW! SUNG IS THOROUGHLY DOMINATING THE PROCEEDINGS NOW!

SUNG UP 19-6

It's a TEN-POINT ADVANTAGE FOR SUNG NOW!

16-6

Saina is finding it hard to keep up with Sung's pace.

Sung is up 14-6

11-6 to Sung at the mid-game interval.

This is a great turnaround so far!

Sung has gone up further now!

10-5

Saina has a lot of hard work to do in this game!

The gap is now of three points!

Sung still up 8-5

The gap is increasing between the two now.

Sung is up 7-3

And Sung clearly wants this to go the distance!

Has opened up a 4-1 lead

It's 1-1 in Game 2!!!!

Early stages....

WHAT A FINISH THAT WAS!!!!

AND SAINA STAVES OFF THE SUNG CHALLENGE AND TAKES THE FIRST GAME 22-20

Second game point for Nehwal!

21-20

And Sung saves it!

20-20

What drama!

GAME POINT FOR SAINA!

20-19

Time for Saina to level matters!

She makes it 19-19

SEVEN CONSECUTIVE POINTS FOR THE KOREAN!

SHE IS UP 19-17

Another point for the Korean!

She goes up to 18-17

And it is 17-17

Sung now trails by just ONE POINT!

THINGS ARE GETTING CLOSER HERE!

Saina barely leads, at 17-16

A third consecutive point for the Korean

She trails 15-17

2 more points for the Korean, who has closed in on 14-17

17-12 for the Indian now

It's 2 more points for the Indian and she is up to 16-11

A long rally ends in Saina's favour

She is up 14-11

But, as expected, Sung won't let her go easily.

Sung takes 2 points and now trails 11-13

It's 13-9 to the Indian now as she keeps plugging away

Saina takes an 11-8 lead at the mid-game interval.