Saina loses in Malaysia Open pre-quarters

India's Saina Nehwal fell to Japanese second seed Akane Yamaguchi in straight games in the second round of the Malaysia Open badminton championships here on Thursday.

Saina, 28, lost 15-21, 13-21 in 36 minutes to 21-year-old Yamaguchi, who now moves into the quarter-finals.

Yamaguchi has now taken a 6-1 lead in head-to-head records against the two-time World Championships medallist Saina, who on Thursday suffered the sixth straight loss against the Japanese.

In the first game, Yamaguchi had taken a 9-2 lead but Saina closed down the deficit to one as the Indian reached the 10-point mark. However, Yamaguchi outplayed the Indian to take a 21-15 win.

She continued to dominate Saina in the second game, taking an 11-3 lead in the mid-game interval. Though Saina improved her game, Yamaguchi ran away with a 21-13 easy triumph.

--IANS

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