Saina crashes out of New Zealand Open after shocking loss to world number 212
India's Saina Nehwal suffered a shocking first round loss to world number 212 Wang Zhiyi of China to exit the New Zealand Open here Wednesday, but H S Prannoy and B Sai Praneeth advanced.
The 29-year-old Olympic bronze medallist and world number nine lost 16-21 23-21 4-21 to her 19-year-old opponent in the women's singles match that lasted one hour and seven minutes.
In men's singles, HS Prannoy and B Sai Praneeth advanced to the second round. Prannoy defeated Kean Yew Loh 21-15 21-14 in straight games while Praneeth edged Indian counterpart Subhankar Dey 21-17 19-21 21-15 in a close contest that lasted 71 minutes.
Lakshya Sen's campaign, though, ended with a hard-fought loss against Taiwan's Wang Tzu Wei. Lakshya lost 21-15 18-21 10-21 in an hour and eight minutes.
Earlier in the day, the pair of Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy fought hard against Chinese duo of Liu Xuanxuan and Xia Yuting before losing 14-21 23-21 14-21 in an hour and 10 minutes.
But the men's doubles pair of ...