New Delhi
After an early exit in the Malaysia Open in June, Olympic medallist and ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal eyed a better result in Indonesia Open following an easy entry into the second round on Wednesday. However, China’s Chen Yufei crashed her hopes in the Round of 16 as Saina lost 18-21, 15-21 in a 40-minute long battle. Meanwhile, PV Sindhu and HS Prannoy have both reached the quarters in their respective categories.
After a nervy start and nothing to separate until the interval of the first set, Saina struggled to keep composure losing two consecutive points and then lost rhythm in the long rally that followed in. And at the end of the first 20 minutes of the game, Chen took home the first set 21-18.
The second set took off on a different note with the Commonwealth Games 2018 gold medallist lading 11-9 at the interval. However, she conceded four straight points and thereby battled hard to regain momentum and in the end, it was 21-15 in the second set.
Meanwhile, Sindhu celebrated her 23rd birthday with a 21-17, 21-14 win over 17th-ranked Aya Ohori of Japan in a 36-minute women’s singles match. She will now face either Thailand’s Busanan Ongbamrungphan or China’s He Bingj in the quarterfinal round on Friday.
In men’s singles, Prannoy defeated Wang Tzu Wei of Chinese Taipei 21-23, 21-15, 21-13 to head into the quarters of the USD 1,250,000 Indonesia Open on Thursday. He is likely to face third seed and All England champion Shi Yuqi of China in the next round.
