What tremendous fighting spirit from both the ladies! In the end, it was Saina's sheer experience and resilience that shone though as she came back from a deficit in each game.
Welcome to the Sportskeeda liveblog of the 2017 Hong Kong Open Superseries first round. 2010 champion Saina Nehwal faces World No. 44 Mette Poulsen of Denmark for a place in the second round.
Saina is placed at the 11th position in the world rankings, 33 spots above her Danish opponent. This is their first meeting.
The tournament has a lot of significance for the former World No. 1. It's not just the title she is focussed on but a lot will depend on her performance here in terms of her qualification for the Dubai World Superseries Finals to be held next month.
This is Nehwal's last opportunity and she is mainly in contention with the World No. 10 He Bingjiao, who has all but sealed her place. Saina needs to win this tournament. Anything other than that can put her out of contention.
Her path gets very tough from the second round as the eighth seed Chen Yufei and the World No. 1 Tai Tzu Ying lurk in her part of the draw. Her first round presents a relatively easier challenge. Poulsen lost her last four matches in a row and is thus expected not to pose much threat to her accomplished opponent.
Saina should win this and be ready for the bigger challenges awaiting her from the next round.