Defending champion Saina Nehwal entered the pre-quarterfinals but it turned out to be a disastrous day for the Indian men, including reigning champion K Srikanth at the Yonex-Sunrise India Open Super Series badminton.
World No. 10 Srikanth, who had defeated Tian Houwei during the Badminton Asia Team Championships in February, played out of his skin before losing 13-21 21-17 22-24 to the All England finalist from China in a hard-fought match that lasted one hour and 23 minutes. Srikanth, who has not crossed the second round of any Super Series event ever since his India Open win last year, will lose a lot of ranking points and it might put his Olympic qualification in danger
The Indian men dropped out of the tournament after H S Prannoy and Sourabh Verma also suffered defeats in the opening round at the Siri Fort stadium.
Saina, Sindhu and Rituparna March Forward
Saina Nehwal, P V Sindhu and unheralded Rituparna Das, however, advanced to the second round of the USD 300,000 event. Olympic bronze medallist Saina thrashed compatriot Tanvi Lad 21-7 21-13 in a lop-sided 34-minute match, while Rituparna defeated compatriot Anura Prabhudesai 21-18 21-15 in another women’s singles match.
P V Sindhu too reached the pre-quarterfinals after making mincemeat of Italy’s Jeanine Cicognini 21-8 21-8 in just 18 minutes. Saina will next face Thailand’s Nitchaon Jindapol, Rituparna will meet former All England champion and fourth seed Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand, while two-time World Championship bronze medallist Sindhu will be up against Thailand’s Busanan Ongbumrungphan.
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