Birmingham, March 7 (IANS) Saina Nehwal had a tough time entering the quarter-finals of the All-England badminton championships, overcoming American qualifier Beiwen Zhang 24-22, 18-21, 21-19.

Saina needed an hour to quell the fierce opposition from Zhang, a former Singapore player of Chinese origin, here Thursday night.

Saina, the only Indian left in the championships, next plays fourth seed Chinese Wang Shixian who easily beat Chloe Magee of Ireland, 21-15, 21-12.