Fuzhou (China : Ace Indian shuttlers Saina Nehwal and HS Prannoy crashed out in the second round of the China Open Super Series after suffering straight game defeats in their respective events, here on Thursday.While Saina lost 18-21 11-21 to her Japanese nemesis and fifth seed Akane Yamaguchi in the women’s singles second round, world no. 11 Prannoy was stunned by 53rd ranked Cheuk Yiu Lee of Hong Kong 21-19 21-17 in the men’s singles event.
It was a disappointment for both Saina and Prannoy, especially after the two shuttlers had won the women’s and men’s singles titles respectively at the recently-concluded National badminton championships.
Their exits leave second-ranked PV Sindhu as the lone Indian player in the fray. She will take the court later in the day against Yue Han of China.
For Saina, the match against Yamaguchi was always expected to be a tricky one considering her inferior head-to- head record against the Japanese. Before the start of today’s match, Saina trailed Yamaguchi one to three in head-to-head record with their three previous results going in the Japanese favour and the trend continued. Saina, thus, suffered her fourth defeat against Yamaguchi this year. The London Olympic bronze-medallist, who won the title here in 2014, got off to a positive start to take a slender 11-9 lead. But Yamaguchi fought hard to pocket the first game 21-18.