India’s seasoned shuttlers Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth continued their poor run of form as they crashed out in the first round of the season-opening Malaysia Open Super 1000 tournament. London Olympics bronze medalist Saina, who was battling poor form and injuries in the year 2022, was defeated by China’s Han Yui 21-12, 17-21, 21-12 in the first round of this 12 lakh 50 thousand prize tournament. The only win for India on the day was the women’s doubles pair of Gayatri Gopichand and Trisha Jolly.
The Indian pair, who won a bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games 2022, defeated the Hong Kong pair of Yeung Nga Ting and Yeung Pui Lam 21-14 21-19 to enter the pre-quarterfinals. Saina, who had slipped to world No. 30, came back after winning the first game to take the women’s singles match in the decider. Han, however, saw off two-time Commonwealth Games champion Saina, giving her no chance in the third and deciding game.
Former world number one Srikanth lost 21-19, 21-14 to unseeded Japan’s Kenta Nishimoto. World Championship silver medalist Srikanth, who was struggling with poor form, lost in 42 minutes. World No. 13 Srikanth gave a tough fight to Nishimoto in the first game but the Japanese managed to take the lead. In the second game, the score was tied at 12-12 at one point but Nishimoto then played brilliantly to win.
Aakarshi Kashyap also made a first round exit after going down 10-21, 8-21 to Chinese Taipei’s Wen Chi Hsu. Two-time Olympic medalist PV Sindhu will take on Caroline Marin in her opening match on Wednesday, while Lakshya Sen and HS Prannoy will also fight for a place in the last 16. In the men’s doubles, the pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty will also take the court.
