Varma, Pawar lose in Korea Open Superseries qualifier

Indian shuttlers Sourabh Varma, Anand Pawar and P.V. Sindhu lost Tuesday in the qualification round of the Korean Open Superseries badminton in Seoul.

Varma, who broke into the top-50 after reaching the final of the Syded Modi Grand Prix in Lucknow last month, lost to Malaysia’s Daren Liew 21-15, 14-21, 18-21 in little less than an hour.

Pawar won the first match but lost to South Korea’s Sung Min Park 18-21, 24-22, 18-21 in the next qualifying round.

Upcoming women’s player Sindhu went down to Hye Youn Hwang of South Korea 21-19, 21-14 in 35 minutes.

India’s best bet in the competition Saina Nehwal will play her first round match against Scotland’s Susan Eglestaff Wednesday.