India’s ace shuttler Saina Nehwal suffered a shock defeat to Japan’s Sayaka Sato (unseeded) in the first round of the Badminton Asia Championships in Wuhan, China on Wednesday. The World Number 8 went down 21-19, 16-21, 18-21 to her Japanese opponent.
While Nehwal bowed out of the tournament, World Number 3 PV Sindhu advanced to the next round after beating Indonesia's Dinar Dyah Ayustine 21-8, 21-8 in just 31 minutes.
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Nehwal, who has been struggling to find her rhythm after her return from injury in November last year, had a 6-1 head-to-head record against Sayaka Sato before the match.
India’s mixed doubles pair of Pranaav Jerry Chopra and N Sikki Reddy were also knocked out in the first round of the tournament after losing 15-21, 21-14, 16-21 to China’s Zheng Siwei and Chen Qingchen.
Ajay Jayaram defeated fifth seeded Houwei Tian of China 21-18, 18-21, 21-19 to progress to the second round of the men's singles event.
The 2015 Swiss Open champion HS Prannoy lost a gruelling battle against eighth seeded Ng Ka Long Angus, going down 16-21, 21-13, 19-21 to the Hong Kong player.
In women's doubles, Syed Modi Grand Prix Gold finalists Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy lost 20-22 16-21 to Korean combo of Chae Yoo Jung and Kim So Yeong in a 37-minute clash.
In men's doubles, Rio Olympians Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy lost 9-21, 18-21 to Chinese pair of Fu Haifeng and Zhang Nan.
(With inputs from PTI)
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