Saina, Prannoy bow out of China open

Indian shuttlers Saina Nehwal and H.S. Prannoy bowed out of the World Superseries Premier going down to their respective opponents here on Thursday.

In a match which lasted 37 minutes, Japan's Akane Yamaguchi defeated Saina in straight games 21-18, 21-11 to advance in the women's singles category while Lee Cheuk Yiu overpowered Prannoy 21-19, 21-17 in 42 minutes in the men's singles category.

In the first match, Saina played to her potential but towards the end, the Hyderabadi shuttler lost the momentum as also the issue.

In the second game it was all about the Japanese shuttler. Saina seemed struggling and as a result Yamaguchi wrapped up the issue comnfortably.

In the men's singles match, Prannoy failed to live up to his reputation and surrendered the match in straight games. Prannoy, however, tried to bounce back but the Hong Kong based shuttler proved superior and edged past the Indian player.

Later in the day, the second seed P.V. Sindhu will face Han Yue of China in the second round.

--IANS

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