The world champion PV Sindhu crashed out in the opening round of Korea Open Super 500 after losing to Beiwen Zhang in three games on Wednesday. PV Sindhu won the first game comfortably but the American shuttler came back strongly to win the next two games.
World Champion PV Sindhu Knocked Out
Sindhu, who had crashed out of the China Open in the pre-quarterfinals earlier last week, couldn’t find a way past the American Zhang and lost the match 21-7, 22-24, 15-21. It was a tough loss for 5th-seeded Sindhu as she had a match point in the second game. But the American hung in there and closed out the match comfortably eventually.
Interestingly, Sindhu had defeated Zhang to enroute her World Championships gold at Basel earlier this month but the 11th seed got one back on the superstar Indian shuttler this time.
Meanwhile, the eighth-seeded Saina Nehwal had to end her campaign after she retired hurt during the third game against South Korea’s Kim Ga Eun in the first round match. Saina won the first game 21-19 but lost the second one 18-21. In the last game she was trailing 1-8 before she decided not to continue further.
Korea Open Super 500
In men’s singles, B. Sai Praneeth made an early exit from the men’s event after he was forced to retire midway in his first-round match against Anders Antonsen of Denmark.
Praneeth had lost the first game 9-21 and was trailing 7-11 in the second when he chose to retire because of injury and thus sending Antonsen through to the round of 16.
The 27-year-old had entered the Korea Open on the back of an exit at the quarterfinal stage of the China Open last week where he lost to World No. 9 Anthony Sinisuka Ginting of Indonesia.
Before that, he had won a bronze medal at the World Championships in Basel, ending India’s 36-year drought for a medal in men’s singles category.
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