Korea Open 2018: Saina Nehwal vs Kim Ga Eun Second Round, Live Score and Match Updates

Nehwal beat Kim Ga Eun 21-18, 21-18 to enter the quarter-finals

Updated: 27 September 2018 13:15 IST - Published: 27 September 2018 11:59 IST

And that brings us to the end of our live coverage of this match.

Do join us tomorrow as we bring you live updates from the quarter-finals.

Goodbye!

That was a superb comeback by Saina Nehwal after a poor and slow start to the second game. She banked on her tremendous fighting skills to prevent this match from going the distance. It would help her conserve some energy ahead of a possible blockbuster quarter-final showdown with Nozomi Okuhara.

AND SAINA NEHWAL HAS WON THIS MATCH!

SHE NEEDED 36 MINUTES TO BEAT KIM GA EUN 21-18, 21-18

NEHWAL IS THROUGH TO THE QUARTER-FINALS!!!!

Kim saves one match point!

18-20

SAINA HAS REACHED MATCH POINTS NOW!

20-17

And, it's 19-15 for Nehwal!

She is two points away from the win!

It's 18-15 in favour of the Indian now

Saina maintains the three-point advantage!

17-14

And, now the match is completely in Saina's control!

She has inched ahead to 16-13

Saina takes the lead for the first time in this game!

She is up 14-13

AND SHE HAS LEVELLED THE SCORE!

13-13

Now just one point behind the Korean!

12-13

SAINA IS FIGHTING BACK!

SHE IS NOW TWO POINTS BEHIND AT 10-12

Saina makes a fine start after the break and takes two points right away.

8-11

Kim is up 11-6 at the mid-game interval.

Saina now 6-10 behind

Another two points for the Indian!

5-9

2 points for the Indian....can she make a comeback here?

Saina trails 3-8

Saina can't keep up with her young opponent.

Kim up 7-1

Saina gets her first point of the second game but Kim is up, anyway, at 5-1

It's all Kim at the start of the second game as she takes FOUR QUICK POINTS TO LEAD 4-0

It became way closer towards the end than how it started.

Nehwal takes the first game 21-18

THREE GAME POINTS FOR THE INDIAN!!!

20-17

2 points for the Indian!

19-17

It is 17-17 now.

Still pretty competitive!

AND SHE WINS A GRINDING RALLY AND LEVELS THE SCORE!

16-16

Another couple of points for the Korean.

She is now just one point behind at 15-16

Kim is producing some fightback here as she takes two points in a row.

She now trails 13-16

It is 16-11 in Nehwal's favour now.

Again Saina wrests away the momentum and goes up to 14-8

Kim makes a good start post-break and takes two points in a row to trail 8-11.

Saina stops her there and takes an 11-6 lead at the mid-game interval.

Suddenly, there is a shift in momentum as Kim is trying to fight back.

Kim takes FOUR POINTS ON THE TROT TO CUT DOWN SAINA'S LEAD TO JUST FOUR POINTS!!!

Kim trails 6-10

Saina adds three more quick points to her kitty.

She is 10-2 up.

Kim takes one point but Saina snatches back the control soon after.

Saina up 7-2

Saina is racing ahead now!

Has opened up a 6-1 lead now

Saina makes a strong start and leads 3-1

And the match is under way!

Saina faces Korea's Kim Ga Eun for a place in the quarter-finals. While Saina is ranked 10th, the Korean girl is placed at 80th in the BWF World Rankings.

This will be the first career meeting between the two.

By dint of her ranking and her form, Nehwal is expected to come through this one easily. She hardly broke a sweat yesterday in her first round and it should be the same today as well.

Good morning and welcome to the Sportskeeda live coverage of the 2018 Korea Open. Saina Nehwal is seeded fifth at this Super 500 tournament. She is now the only Indian left at this tournament after Sameer Verma and Vaishnavi Reddy Jakka crashed out on Wednesday.