Hong Kong, Nov 20 (IANS) It was a disastrous day for Indian shuttlers at the $350,000 Hong Kong Open Super Series as all but Saina Nehwal crashed out of the first rounds of the tier-II tournament here Wednesday.
Seventh seed Saina beat Indonesia’s Bellaetrix Manuputty 21-14, 21-16 in 34 minutes to progress to the women’s singles second round at the Hong Kong Coliseum.
Saina recorded her third victory in as many matches against the World No.30 and will take on Thai Porntip Buranaprasertsuk, against whom the Hyderabadi has a perfect 6-0 record.
However, it was curtains for all others including Parupalli Kashyap and World Championship bronze medallist P.V. Sindhu.
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In the men’s singles clash, top Chinese player Zhengming Wang easily overcame Kashyap 21-14, 21-10 in 32 minutes while Malaysian World No.1 and top seed Lee Chong Wei took care of K. Srikanth, winning 21-18, 21-14 in half an hour.
It was a 2013 World Championship women’s singles semifinal rematch between two of the rising talents of the world as the two 18-year-olds — Thai World Champion Ratchanok Intanon and Sindhu — met for the third time in their careers.
The World No.2 Thai proved too good once again and beat the Indian for the third straight time 21-16, 21-17 in 39 minutes to progress further.
In men’s doubles, Russian pair Vladimir Ivanov and Ivan Sozonov beat Manu Attri and B. Sumeeth Reddy 21-9, 21-15 in 26 minutes while Indonesian top seeds Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan drubbed Pranaav Jerry Chopra and Akshay Dewalkar 21-18, 21-19 in 26 minutes.
