Neha had shocked experienced Poulomi Ghatak and Mouma Das in 2008 to board the flight to Beijing but she failed to make a mark thereafter.
Ranked 430, Neha has shown remarkable improvement in her game in the past few months and was part of the squad that had oversees training session.
"The China training helped me a lot. I am fit and the rhythm is good. I hope I can help my side win medal in the championships," she said.
"I was meeting her for the first time and was excited to play against her. I played freely and gave my best," Neha said after beating Yihan Zhou 11-6 12-10 7-11 11-6.
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"My services and anti (a technique to block spin) worked really well. My back hand was also good. I won lot of points on it," she added.
Although she has won in the sub-junior and junior nationals, the senior's championship title still eludes the Delhi girl, and the slump in form in the last two years meant that wasn't a regular in the national squad.
"I have trained hard with my coach to get back into shape. The injury is also completely healed now," she said.