Saina Nehwal bows out of Thailand Open

Bangkok: Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal crashed out of the Thailand Open after losing to local girl Busanan Ongbamrungphan in the women’s singles Round of 16, here on Thursday.

Saina went down fighting 23-21, 14-21, 16-21 in a three-set thriller to Ongbamrungphan.

Nehwal had defeated Malaysia’s Kisona Selvaduray on Wednesday in straight sets to advance to the second round of the event.

Meanwhile, former world No 1 Kidambi Srikanth pulled out of his second round match on Thursday due to a calf muscle pull.

Srikanth, who had beaten fellow Indian shuttler Sourabh Verma on Tuesday, was due to face Malaysian eighth-seed Lee Zii Jia in the pre-quarterfinals but it was not to be.

“Right Calf muscle pull. So gave walkover for today’s match. Should see how he improves in the next 5 days and then will decide about his participation in the next tournament,” Badminton Association of India (BAI) said in a tweet.

In an another game, Indian men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty lost to Indonesian duo of Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan by 21-19, 21-17 in the second round to crash out of the tournament. (UNI)