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London Olympic bronze medallist Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal kick-started her 2022 BWF World Championships campaign with a straight-game win over Cheung Ngan Yi of Hon Kong in Tokyo on Tuesday. It took her 38 minutes to dispatch Ngan Yi 21-19, 21-9 during the opening round. The 32-year-old, who has previously won a silver and bronze in the tournament, moved into the pre-quarters. Her Round 2 opponent, Nozomi Okuhara of Japan, pulled out of the competition, citing an injury. As a result, it gave the Indian a bye into the pre-quarters.
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On the other hand, the women's doubles pair of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand was also off to a winning start. The Indian duo barely toiled as it imposed a 21-11, 21-13 loss on Yeen Yuan Low and Valeree Siow of Malaysia. However, it turned out to be the end of the road for the mixed doubles pair of Venkat Gaurav Prasad and Juhi Dewangan, who went down 10-21, 21-23 to England's Gregory Mairs and Jenny Moore.
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(With inputs from PTI)