Anand Pawar knocked out of the SKYCITY New Zealand Open

Anand Pawar suffered a straight games loss at the hands of Lee Hyun-il of Korea

India’s Anand Pawar crashed out of the SKYCITY New Zealand Open on Thursday, after suffering a defeat at the hands of Korea’s Lee Hyun-il in the third round. The 11th lost to his opponent in straight games 21-14 21-7.

Pawar entered into the match with back-to-back wins under his belt in the opening two rounds, where he first defeated Joshua Curry of New Zealand 21-5 21-9 and then overcame Malaysia's Zulhelmi Zulkeffi in the second round 21-11 21-17.

With Pawar’s loss, India’s campaign at the tournament has also come to an end after the mixed doubles duo of Abhinav Manota and Rachita Sachdev lost in the second round to the pair of Zheng Si Wei and Chen Qingchen in straight games.

Tarun Kona and Sikki Reddy were also eliminated in the first round of the tournament by Peng Soon Chang and Liu Ying Gooh in straight games 21-14 21-8.