Saina Nehwal knocked out in the opening round at the Malaysia Open Super 750
Saina Nehwal: (Image Source: Twitter)
India’s star shuttler, Saina Nehwal has been knocked out in the opening round at the Malaysia Open Super 750 on Tuesday. The London Olympics bronze medalist lost against America’s Iris Wang, who is currently ranked number 33 in the world. Saina went down by 11-21, and 17-21 in 37 minutes.
The former world’s number one shuttler hasn’t been in the best of forms. She has been constantly hampered by injuries. Nehwal hasn’t reached the 2nd round in any competition played in the year 2022.
Meanwhile, PV Sindhu, on the other hand, has made a winning start and has been progressed to the 2nd round. Sindhu exhibited an outstanding performance against Thailand’s Pornpawee Chochuwong. The Indian star shuttler won in straight sets only to secure her place in the next round. She beat Chochuwong 21-13, and 21-17 in the first round and would look to continue the winning momentum.
Earlier, this month, Sandhu made an early exit at Indonesia Open but ensured they came back strongly in the ongoing competition. Sindhu will next face another Thailand shuttler in Pitthiaporn Chaiwan in the second round and could meet Tai Tzu Yin in a potential quarter-final game.
Meanwhile, London Olympics bronze medallist Saina went down fighting against American Iris Wang, ranked 33rd in the world, 11-21 17-21 in 37 minutes.
Talking about the men’s category, Parupalli Kashyap has progressed to the 2nd round in the singles field after outclassing South Korea’s Heo Kwang Hee 21-12, 21-7.
On the other hand, B Sumeeth Reddy and Ashwini Ponnappa couldn’t get past the world number 21 pairing of Robin Tabeling and Selena Piek of the Netherlands, losing 15-21, 21-19, 17-21.
Besides, India’s HS Prannoy also progressed to the second round in men’s singles. He received a pretty stiff challenge from Malaysia’s Daren Liew but had the last laugh in the end. However, Sai Praneeth and Sameer Verma were shown the door in the opening round.
