Thailand Open: Saina Nehwal Knocked Out in Second Round; Kidambi Srikanth Pulls Out Due to Calf Injury

With Saina's loss, India's challenge in the women's singles event has come to an end at the tournament. Sixth-seeded PV Sindhu had lost her opening round match 21-16, 24-26, 13-21 to world No.18 Mia Blichfeldt on Wednesday.

Author: India.com Sports Desk Edited by: Aditya Maheshwari

Published: January 14, 2021, 4:41 PM IST

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https://www.india.com/sports/thailand-open-saina-nehwal-knocked-out-in-second-round-kidambi-srikanth-pulls-out-due-to-calf-injury-4331260/ Copy

File image of Saina Nehwal©IANS

Saina Nehwal suffered defeat in the second round of Thailand Open and crashed out from the first badminton tournament fo 2020. Saina gave a tough fight to Busanan Ongbamrungphan as their match lasted for 68 minutes but in the end, Thailand’s shuttler emerged victorious with 23-21, 14-21, 16-21.

The ace India shuttler picked up a good start in the game but went on to lose the control over the game at the mid-game break by conceding a 9-11 lead. However, she pulled off a comeback and clinched the first game 23-21.

After the first game, Ongbamrungphan took full control of the game and dominate Saina with 14-21 scoreline.

In the final game, the Thai upped her game by a notch and won 21-16 to enter the quarterfinals.

While, in the first round, Saina claimed a convincing 21-15, 21-15 win over Kisona Selvaduray of Malaysia.

With Saina’s loss, India’s challenge in the women’s singles event has come to an end at the tournament. Sixth-seeded PV Sindhu had lost her opening round match 21-16, 24-26, 13-21 to world No.18 Mia Blichfeldt on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, in men’s singles, Kidambi Srikanth also pulled out of the tournament before the start of his second-round match due to a calf muscle strain. Kidambi was slated to face Malaysia’s Lee Zii Jia but the later will go through with the Indian pulling out and offering a walkover.

The former world no 1 shuttler took to Twitter to share the news with everyone.

“Very sad to let you all know that I have been advised to pull out of Thailand Open due to a calf muscle strain. I am hoping to be fit by next week for the next round of the Thailand leg,” Srikanth said in a tweet.

Earlier in the day, the star Indian pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty crashed out of the men’s doubles event after suffering a straight-games defeat in their second-round contest.

Satwik-Chirag suffered a 19-21, 17-21 defeat against the Indonesian duo of Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan in a match that lasted 34 minutes.

(With PTI Inputs)