The Indian men's badminton team notched its second successive win with a 5-0 thrashing of Canada in a group tie to qualify for the knockout round of the Thomas Cup on Monday.
In the first match of the quarter-final tie, Malvika Bansod lost her match to world number five Akane Yamaguchi 12-21, 17-21.
It was a second straight 5-0 win for India, the team having beaten the Netherlands with an identical margin on Sunday.
Saina is likely to be rested for the next match against minnows Scotland in an Uber Cup preliminary round match on Tuesday.
Kidambi Srikanth, B Sai Praneeth and Sameer Verma won their respective singles match in straight games; doubles pairs Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila won their tie with little discomfort.
Starting the proceedings for India, London Olympics bronze medallist Saina had to concede her match after losing the first game 20-22 against Spain's Clara Azurmendi.
BAI also on Sunday named a 12-member Indian team for the Sudirman Cup, which is slated to take place from September 26 to October 3 in Finland.
The tournaments, slated to be held in Denmark from October 3 to 11, was set to mark the resumption of international badminton after it came to a halt in March following the outbreak of novel coronavirus.
A multiple number of teams pulled out of the tournament due to the COVID-19 pandemic, forcing the BWF to postpone the Thomas and Uber Cup Finals.
Nehwal tweeted her apprehensions following the withdrawal of seven countries from the tournament due to the rising COVID-19 cases across the globe.
The prestigious Thomas and Uber Cup Finals will be the first global badminton events to be organised since the coronavirus outbreak in March.
The Indian women's team has been clubbed with 14-time winners China, France and Germany in Group D while the men's side has been placed in Group C alongside 2016 champions Denmark, Germany and Algeria in the draw.
The Indian men's team has been placed in Group C alongside 2016 champions Denmark, Germany and Algeria, while the women's side has been clubbed with 14-time winners China, France and Germany in group D
The tournament was originally scheduled to be held from May 16-24 but on March 20 was postponed to August 15-23 due to the worsening global health crisis which has led to the death of more than 2 lakh people so far.
The Thomas and Uber Cup, which was scheduled to take place in May in Denmark, has now been postponed until August.
Sai Praneeth showed stomach to fight but H S Prannoy seemed completely off colour while the rest of the Indian shuttlers lacked the experience to compete against their Chinese counterparts.
After going down 1-4 to Canada in the opening match, Saina and Co. seemed to get their act together as they won all the matches, except the first women's doubles.
The young and inexperienced Indian team proved no match for their French counterparts, who were ranked lower in the men's doubles.
The 25-year-old from Hyderabad, who had clinched his maiden Super Series title at Singapore Open last year, said the team is focused on beating France on the opening day.
The tournament which is in its 27th year of existence will see the Asian championship bronze medallist Prannoy along with B Sai Praneeth in the men's singles.
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