Saina Nehwal knocked out of Malaysian Open

Former World No 1 Saina Nehwal knocked out of Malaysian Open in the second game against Akane Yamaguchi at the Axiata Arena in Bulkit Jalil in Kuala Lumpur. The match came to an end in just 36 minutes. The Japanese defeated Saina Nehwal 15-21, 13-21.

The Indian sensation fought hard to narrow margin to 10-11 in the first game but the Japanese came back even harder making it 11-18 and eventually winning the first round with ease. There was no competition there after as Saina Nehwal crashed out of the competition losing straight sets to the 21 year old.

Meanwhile, PV Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth marched to the Quarter finals of the Malaysian Open Badminton Championship on Thursday. PV Sindhu got the better of Ying Ying Lee with 21-8, 21-14 in a one sided encounter. The match lasted for just 32 minutes and apparently the Malaysian couldn’t make it to the next round. The 22 year old will face 2016 Olympic Champion Carolina Marin in the Quarter Finals.

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Kidambi Srikanth had no difficulties facing Sai Praneeth of Chinese Taipei. He showed sheer dominance defeating the opponent in just 36 minutes. The Chinese got close in the first set at 18-20 but couldn’t cross the line. Kidambi thrashed away all possibilities of an upset by producing a 10-1 scoreline beginning the second set. It was nothing short of a cake walk for the Indian.

India’s experienced mixed doubles pair of Pranaav Chopra and N. Sikki Reddy also joined Saina Nehwal as they were comprehensively beaten by Chinese fourth seed Zheng Siwei Huang Yaqiong by 16-21, 12-21.

Saina Nehwal knocked out Yamaguchi only once in the last seven encounters that came in the 2014 China Open. Yamaguchi had tough time in Uber cup final against the same opponent but she seemed well prepared this time around. She gave Saina no space and dominated throughout the duration of the match.