Badminton star Saina Nehwal on Friday crashed out of Macau Open after losing to China’s Zhang Yiman 12-21, 17-21 in the quarter-final.
Yiman, ranked 226 stunned Saina in straight sets to progress to the semi-final round.
As soon as the match began, Yiman took a 4-2 lead over London Olympics bronze medallist Saina in the first game. The Indian shuttler was unable to cope up with the brilliant serves and aces directed at her as the Chinese opponent quickly extended her lead to 14-9. Saina tried hard but lost the first game 12-21. In the previous instance it was seen that she had come back strongly after losing the first game. But Friday was a different affair.
The second game turned out to be a close contest, but it was Yiman who prevailed at the end as she romped home 21-17. Since undergoing knee injury, Saina has not been in good form as she crashed out of two major tournaments in recent months.
Saina crashed out to Thailand’s Porntip Buranaprasertsuk 16-21, 21-19, 14-21 in the first round of China Open . The tournament was won by Rio Olympics silver medallist PV Sindhu. It was the first instance when she had lost in the first round of a tournament. Saina’s losing streak continued in the Hong Kong Open after she lost 8-21, 21-18, 19-21 to Hong Kong’s Cheung Ngan Yi in the last eight stage of the tournament.
Saina Nehwal underwent surgery on her right knee at a hospital in Bengaluru in August this year. She had lost to Ukraine’s Maria Ulitina in the second round of the women’s singles category.
