Saina bows out of Hong Kong Super Series

Saina Nehwal made a first-round exit from the Hong Kong Super Series badminton tournament after the Indian ace lost to Dutch Jie Yao in straight games in the women’s singles event in Hong Kong on Wednesday.

Saina, who recently raised her World Rankings to the sixth spot, didn’t seem to be in the best of forms as it took just 26 minutes for the unseeded Yao to edge out the eighth seeded Indian 21-16, 21-12 of the tournament.

However, Rupesh Kumar and Sanave Thomas kept the Indian hopes alive as the Indian men’s doubles duo registered a hard-fought victory over Malaysian pair of Pak Chu Chow and Chieng Hun Hong 21-18, 21-9 in their first round encounter, which lasted 28 minutes.

Saina, who made a sedate start to her game, faltered in many occasions conceding her unseeded rival to take a 7-1 lead initially.

The 20-year-old tried hard to make her way back into the opening game and narrowed the gap to 16-18 but the Dutch pocketed three straight points to take away the first game.

It was the same script in the second game as Yao took the initial lead to 6-2 first and then increased it to 17-12 before she ran away with the match.

ddinews.com

Category: Sports