Leading Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal edged past her Chinese opponent Sun Yu 22-20, 21-18 to move into the second round of the China Open here on Wednesday.
Though it was a neck-and-neck affair, the top seed held her nerve to win the gruelling battle in 49 minutes.
In the first game, it was Yu who started in top gear, picking up four quick points. Saina, the defending champion, made a swift comeback to make it 6-7 but the Chinese surged ahead again.
Yu led 18-14 and looked all set to bag the opener. But the Hyderabad-born shuttler stormed back with four back-to-back points to make it 18-18. They were locked at 20-20 too but then Saina picked up the last two crucial points to pocket the game in the tie breaker.
