Not in her usual self, Kyra played some ordinary tennis and trailed 1-5 in the first set as Riya kept putting pressure, forcing her opponent to make a lot of unforced errors.
However, at 1-5, Kyra found her way and won the next 12 games to go up 5-0 in the second set.
The other seeds had it easy as second seed Rutuja Bhosale beat Anushka Bhargava 6-3 6-4 and fourth seed Ankita Raina got the better of Sahan 6-2 6-1.
China's He-Chun-Yan kept the foreign hope alive easily beating Sneha Padamata (IND) 6-0 6-3.
Yan was too strong for her less fancied opponent and the supreme fitness level of the Chinese proved too much for Sneha to handle.
Meanwhile, local girl Amrita Mukherjee, made quick work off qualifier Natasha Kanvinde (Great Britain) with a 6-1 6-0 win.
Results, Rd I (Indians unless specified): Amrita Mukherjee b Natasha Kanvinde 6-1, 6-0; Rutuja Bhosale b Anushka Bhargava 6-3, 6-4; Sharon Pau b Tanvee Bose 6-0, 6-1; Eetee Maheta b Tarrannum Handa 7-5, 6-2; Kyra Shroff b Riya Bhatia 7-5, 6-2; Ankita Raina b Sahan Shetty 6-2, 6-1; He-Chun-Yan (Chn) b Sneha Padamata 6-0, 6-3; Adnya Naik b Snigdha Padamata 6-0, 6-0.
