India Open 2018, First Round: Saina Nehwal vs Sofie Holmboe Dahl, Live Match Updates

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The young Dane gave some stiff resistance in the first game by prolonging the rallies but didn't have anything left to challenge Saina in Game 2.

And Saina wraps it up.

21-15, 21-9

She is through to R2

11 match points for the Indian.

And Saina has a TEN-POINT lead now.

19-9

It's 17-8 to the World No. 12

It's 15-7 for the former champion

Saina is pretty much in control of this match.

12-7 she leads

Saina leads 11-6 at the midgame interval

Saina has a four-point advantage currently.

10-6

She is ahead 8-5

And she builds a 6-4 lead

Saina is ahead marginally.

5-4

And it is 3-3

It's evenly poised in the initial stages.

2-2

Second game

1-1

Saina takes the first game.

21-15

Five game points for the Indian.

20-15

Saina has marched ahead to 19-15.

2 points away from the game

And the Dane gets the point.

Trails 14-17

A challenge from Sofie as her shot, that apparently lands in the corner, is called out.

Saina inches ahead to 16-13

15-11

Saina looking pretty comfortable at the moment

14-11

The momentum is with Nehwal now

And Saina amps up the intensity here.

2 quick points to break away from an 11-11 tie and lead 13-11

Saina takes a slender lead of 11-10 going into the midgame interval.

And....

10-10

Kudos to the young Dane for making it so competitive.

It continues to be even.

9-9

8-8

Pretty competitive game

Saina wrests away the lead.

8-7

And we are all level here.

7-7

Sofie has just one point lead.

7-6

Third point in a row for the Indian.

The comeback is truly on!

5-6

And yet another.

Saina trails 4-6

Saina pulls one back after a long rally.

3-6

Sofie leads 6-2

And Saina trails 2-5

The young Dane has inched ahead to 4-2

Saina takes some time to settle into a match. That is showing here.

And she goes up to 3-1

Sofie has a 2-1 lead

We are under way!

It is 1-1

Holmboe to serve first.

The match is about to start. Saina will play her first match since reaching the final of the Indonesia Masters last week.

Good afternoon and welcome to the blog.

Welcome to the Sportskeeda liveblog of the India Open 2018 first round match of Saina Nehwal. The Indian, who is a two-time champion at this tournament, has been seeded fourth this time.

She faces the 55th ranked Sofie Holmboe Dahl of Denmark in her first round match. This is the first meeting between the two.

This is a match of complete contrasts. While Saina has rich experience, the Dane is only 21 years and has just one International-level title to her name.

Nehwal has come to this tournament with a lot of confidence. She beat three top-10 players on her way to the final at the Indonesia Masters last week. Those performances showed that she has much improved fitness now and is moving very well on the court these days.

Saina would definitely like to build on that form and the India Open is the perfect place to keep it going as she will have a lot of home support.