Saina Nehwal, HS Prannoy crash out of China Open Superseries

Saina Nehwal knocked out of the China Open Superseries Premier after going down in straight games at the hands of fifth-seed Akane Yamaguchi of Japan here on Thursday.

The London Olympic bronze-medallist, who has been performing exceedingly well from last few weeks, failed to stick to her good form and slumped to a shocking 18-21, 11-21 defeat against Yamaguchi in a second-round clash that lasted 37 minutes.

Prannoy put up a tough fight after getting off to a bad start against Cheuk Yiu, but he eventually suffered a 19-21, 17-21 defeat in a thrilling second-round clash that lasted 42 minutes.

With Prannoy’s defeat, India’s campaign in the men’s singles event of the China Open also ended.

P.V Sindhu is now India’s only hope in the tournament. She will take on 17-year-old Chinese qualifier Yue Han for a place in the quarter-finals later in the day.