Saina leads India's challenge at Malaysian Open

Brimming with confidence after her historic Super Series triumph at the Indonesia Open, ace shuttler Saina Nehwal will spearhead the Indian challenge in the Malaysian Open Grand Prix Gold, beginning in Johar Bahru on Wednesday.

Second seed Saina, who beat world No 3 Chinese Lin Chang in the final of the Indonesian Super Series last week, faces world No 39 Porntip Buranaprasertsuk of Thailand in her opening match in the women's singles category.

Compatriot Aditi Mutatkar will take on Mingtian Fu of Singapore in another singles match.

Among the men, third seed Chetan Anand will lock horns with Malaysian Iskandar Zulkarnain Zainuddin, while ninth seed Aravind Bhat will meet Dane Sune Gavnholt in their respective opening matches.

16th seed Anup Sridhar, who created a flutter defeating world No 2 Dane Peter Gade to reach the quarter-finals of the Singapore Open, will cross sword with Japanese Koichi Saeki.

Meanwhile, P Kashyap, seeded 12, will look to recreate his recent form in the Spanish Open and Open Volant d'Or, when he locks horns with Kazuteru Kozai of Japan.

Kashyap finished runner-up in the Spanish Open and Open Volant d'Or last month.

Anand Pawar will start his campaign against Malaysian Wei Feng Chong, while Ajay Jayaram will meet another Malaysian, Chong Chieh Lok, in his first round match.

In the mixed doubles category, the No 1 seeded Indian pair of V Diju and Jwala Gutta will take the challenge of Malaysian combo Mohd Fairuzizuan Mohd Tazari and Pei Tty Wong.