Star Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal today made a first-round exit from the All England Championship at Birmingham. However, Kidambi Srikanth progressed to the pre-quarterfinals after beating Frenchman Brice Leverdez 7-21, 21-14, 22- 21 in the first round.  

Saina suffered a straight-game defeat against defending champion and World No. 1  Tai Tzu-Ying of the Chinese Taipei, going down 14-21, 18-21. It was Saina's eighth successive loss to the Taiwanese wizard in five years. Saina had reached the finals in the 2015 edition. India's formidable P.V. Sindhu is expected to have easy first round outing.  

The quarter-finals will be played on Friday while the semi-finals on Saturday. The final will be played on Sunday.