Sindhu, Sai, Saina fall, Kashyap advances

Incheon, September 25

Parupalli Kashyap was the lone Indian to survive a day of horrors for India as star shuttlers PV Sindhu, Saina Nehwal and B Sai Praneeth were knocked out in the first round of the Korea Open here today.

Kashyap registered a comfortable 21-16 21-16 win over Lu Chia Hung of Chinese Taipei in a men’s singles match that lasted 42 minutes. He will face Malaysia’s Liew Daren in the second round. 

Sindhu bowed out of the tournament after going down 7-21 24-22 15-21 to USA’s Beiwen Zhang. 

Retired hurt

Sai Praneeth and Saina both retired due to injury or health issues. World Championships bronze medallist Sai Praneeth was trailing 9-21 7-11 when he conceded the match to fifth-seeded Anders Antonsen of Denmark due to an ankle injury. London Olympics bronze medallist Saina was trailing 21-19 18-21 1-8 against South Korea’s Kim Ga Eun when she was forced to retire. 

“It seems she had a relapse of the gastroenteritis that bothered her early in the year,” Saina’s husband and personal coach Kashyap said. 

“She was feeling dizzy and vomited yesterday. In fact, she went to the stadium straight from the hospital today. Still she could have won but when it went to three games, she didn’t have anything left in her tank. We need to check with the doctor when we go back. It has been a difficult year for her,” he added. 

Tough year

Saina, who had a 2-0 head-to-head record against Eun before today, has had a tough year owing to injuries. She won the Indonesia Open at the beginning of the season but has struggled since then. At the China Open Super 1000 event last week, she made a first-round exit.

Sindhu also seems to be going through a rough patch after the high of winning the World Championships. The Olympics silver medallist was knocked out of the China Open by Thailand’s Pornpawee Chochuwong in the second round last week. Interestingly, the 26-year-old former winner here had defeated Zhang en route her World Championships gold at Basel. The Chinese-born Zhang prevailed over Sindhu twice last year.

It was curtains for India also in the opening round of the men’s doubles. Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy lost to Huang Kai Xiang and Liu Cheng of China 16-21 21-19 18-21. Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty lost to fourth seeds Takeshi Kamura and Keigo Sonoda of Japan 19-21 21-18 18-21. — PTI