Saina Nehwal [ Images ] shrugged off the disappointment of losing her opening match her at the World Super Series Badminton Masters finals with a thumping straight games victory over fourth seed Hongyan Pi of France [ Images ] in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia, on Friday.

The world No 10 Indian beat the Frenchwoman, ranked three notches higher than her, 21-18, 21-13 in a 34-minute contest to keep her hopes of advancing to the semi-finals alive.

The 18-year-old Indian national champion next faces world No 11 Mew Choo Wong of Malaysia later on Friday.