The victory was further special for the 20-year-old southpaw as she defeated as the 2012 Olympics bronze medallist in straight games 21-17, 21-9 in a match that lasted mere 35 minutes.
Saina advanced after Czech Republic’s Tereza Svabikova retired at the start of the second game with the Indian leading 22-20, 1-0.
Ashmita Chaliha upsets World No. 28 Kosetskaya in straight games to advance to the second round.
A lot of ranking points will be up for grabs at the USD 400,000 Super 500 tournament which is being held in the looming shadows of a raging third wave of the pandemic in the country with cases rising at a rapid speed, fueled by the new Omicron variant.
Top seed Srikanth, who regained his place in world's top-10, will open his campaign against compatriot Siril Verma and is likely to get another chance to avenge his loss against World champion Loh Kean Yew as they are drawn to clash in the semifinals.
Also headlining the tournament will be newly-crowned world champion Loh Kean Yew along.
Olympic champion Carolina Marin and World No. 1 Kento Momota will headline a star-studded field of international badminton stars.
Badminton World Federation on Thursday announced its adjusted tournament calendar for 2020.
Srikanth blew two game points in the second game to lose 7-21, 20-22 to Axelsen in the men's singles summit clash.
The 26-year-old from Guntur eked out a 14-21, 21-16, 21-19 triumph over China's Huang Yuxiang in an engrossing semifinal.
Sindhu, a 2017 champion and 2016 finalist, edged out Denmark's eighth seed Mia Blichfeldt 21-19, 22-20 in a closely-fought contest to set up a clash with China's He Bingjiao.
Praneeth, who had reached the finals at Swiss Open early this month, eked out a thrilling come-from-behind 18-21, 21-16, 21-15 win over fifth-seeded compatriot Sameer Verma.
PV Sindhu brushed aside fellow Indian Mugdha Agrey 21-8, 21-13 in women's singles.
Star Indian shuttler P.V. Sindhu fell to fifth seeded Beiwen Zhang from the US in the women's singles final of the $350,000 India Open BWF World Tour Super 500.
Srikanth lost 19-21, 17-21 to Malaysian qualifier Iskandar Zulkarnain, who will face Sameer Verma on Friday.
New Delhi, Apr 29: Olympic-bound shuttler Shon Wan Ho of Korea showcased a stunning display of true grit to shock defending champion Lee Chong Wei in the summit clash and clinch his maiden Super Series
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