All England Open Championships: When and where to watch Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth badminton matches, Live Stream Details, TV Schedule and more

By Shruti Sinha

Modified Mar 12, 2020 12:21 IST

Saina Nehwal continues her bright start to the 2019 season

Saina Nehwal, Kidambi Srikanth and B Sai Praneeth remain the only Indians standing at the prestigious All England Open after the first day of the world's oldest badminton tournament saw the exit of PV Sindhu, Sameer Verma and all the Indian doubles pairs.

In contrast to Sindhu's heart-breaking defeat to former World No. 2 Sung Ji Hyun, 2015 women's singles runner-up Nehwal did not have much trouble in her opener against the 29th ranked Kirsty Gilmour. Nehwal, who started the season with the Indonesia Masters title, beat the Scot 21-17, 21-18.

Up next for the former World No. 1 is Denmark's Line Hojmark Kjaersfeldt, ranked 19th in the world currently.

In men's singles, seventh-seeded Kidambi Srikanth dazzled in his first round encounter with French veteran Brice Leverdez, posting a 21-13, 21-11 victory in just 30 minutes. That should boost Srikanth's confidence levels ahead of a tough showdown with the Asian Games gold medallist Jonatan Christie, who beat the Indian in their last two meetings.

Former Singapore Open winner Sai Praneeth beat his compatriot HS Prannoy to advance to the second round of the All England Open. The challenge indeed gets steeper now for the Pullela Gopichand Academy product for he faces World No. 15 NG Ka Long Angus.